Stargate Atlantis: Noura
by ForestMoon
Summary: Mission accomplished, time to go home, it was supposed to be that simple." 3 new recruits arrive at Atlantis under a ‘mentorship program’, this is their story. *Thanks for reading, reviews welcomed!*
1. Forward & Chapter 1

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

**Author's Note: **Some might notice that Teyla was not very pregnant in episode 11 and was suddenly very pregnant in episode 12. A lot of time passed between those episodes. This is just one story that takes place between that time. *spoiler alert*

**A/N 2:** The forward (added on 01 June 2009) contains a lot of spoilers so skip over it if you have not watched up to Season 4 Episode 12 but still want to read this short story.

* * *

**FORWARD**

They saved the city of Atlantis and risked their lives on the Replicator home world to retrieve a Zero Point Modulator. Samantha Carter took over command after Weir was lost to them.

Alien crystal entities invaded their minds and infectious diseases overpowered the people of the city. The people of New Athos - gone. Telya with child who's father is now missing with her people.

A prophet told of Atlantis's great destruction. Clones, replicated Stargate personnel sacrificing themselves to save their original counterparts.

Alliances made, enemies defeated, nothing was ever for certain. The teams on Atlantis have been through much yet there are days when all the chaos and worry can be laid to rest.

There are rare glimpses into what might happen between saving Atlantis, Earth or the human race.

This is just one such story.

"_I could never tell her how I feel. She is under my care and guidance and I am her mentor, her teacher. I must never cross that line." – Sheppard._

* * *

**Chapter 1 – New Recruits**

It was just another day on the Atlantis base after the Replicators have been defeated and the Wraith have gone back to being their sworn enemy.

Colonel Samantha Carter sat and waited in the board room for her early morning meeting. As usual, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard and Ronon Dex arrived first, soon followed by Doctor Rodney McKay. Moments later Doctor Katie Brown from the botanist lab arrived as well much to Rodney's surprise.

After they all greeted each other and took their seats, Col. Carter handed out a file to Sheppard, McKay and Brown.

"I have called you all here this morning to inform you that the I.O.A. has assigned us some new recruits." She began.

Katie Brown looked around the room confused as to how this concerned her. After all, she was not a member of their team, she was just a scientist. McKay gave her a feint smile then opened his folder. Inside was a picture of a young Asian man with glasses. "Um, okay." Is all he could say also unsure what this meant to him.

"As you know the military has several mentorship programs in existence and they are extending that idea here."

"You mean they intend to replace us." Sheppard interrupted.

Carter gave him a tolerant look and replied. "No, not replace. They feel this will speed up hands-on-training." She sat down again and looked at their confused faces.

Sheppard gave a smirk and opened his file. Inside was a picture of a pretty young woman with long brown hair. His eyes lit up and he smiled. "Not bad." He remarked to himself. This concerned Carter somewhat but she quickly refocused and continued to explain.

"You will each be assigned a student for a few weeks and they will pretty much shadow you during that time. Try to behave and it will all be over soon enough." She looked to Ronon and smiled. "Well not you Ronon, I asked you here just to make you aware of what will be happening. As you know Teyla has taken some shore leave and will be away for a while for the duration of her pregnancy."

Dr. Brown then raised her hand slightly feeling rather silly after doing so.

"Yes Katie?" Carter asked.

"So this Dr. Julia West is assigned to me?" She asked nervously in a room full of her superiors.

Carter smiled. "Yes. If you have any concerns just come speak with me. You will do fine."

"So," Sheppard began, "this is a babysitting gig?"

"Rather you than me." Ronon joked as McKay gave off a light sigh.

"I don't have time to babysit some wanna-be. Can't you give him to Zelenka, I am sure he has plenty free time." McKay begged not interested in this assignment at all. Carter had to take a deep breath and refocus once again.

"No, this is more than a baby sitting job." She began again. "When I was with Stargate Command, I joined a similar program and mentored a young girl who turned out to be a very promising addition to the SGC. You have the opportunity to mould these people and teach them. You should not take this assignment lightly. Please understand its potential and importance in the greater scheme of things. You were chosen to mentor these kids because of your brilliance in your field."

She looked at Rodney who shrugged and nodded accepting the compliment.

"Hey, I don't mind babysitting this one." Sheppard smiled looking at her photo again giving Ronon a look as well. Carter got a little annoyed but said nothing in response.

"Um, when are they arriving?" Dr. Brown asked distracting Carter from her train of thought.

"Oh, yes. This afternoon. They are en route with the Douglas. They wanted them to get the _full experience._ I trust you will all do your best, dismissed."

They all stood up and left. Ronon was the first to hi-tail it out of there, followed promptly by Sheppard who was eager to read the file in his hands. Rodney sighed again and smiled at Katie before leaving. Katie was the last to leave unsure of protocol.

At breakfast in the mess hall, Sheppard read over the file. The woman's name was First Lieutenant Leah Turner. She had good scores in a wide range of fields, top score in sharp shooting and was a very good pilot not to mention she had a black belt equivalent in Kung-Fu and was described as being an aggressive fighter. She had also been running with SG-12 for a few months.

On another page in her file it listed her merits and a classified section on her permanent record. Now this was the kind of information Sheppard was interested in as it lent itself well to describing a person's personality and made for good reading.

It began with several arrests and a juvenile record before she enlisted into the military. It continued with bar fights, being kicked from the program and failure to follow orders. How she managed to get into the Stargate program remained a mystery. She must be very good as what she did or she had connections. These were Sheppard's reasoning as to how she became a first lieutenant. Then again, he has his share of black listings to his record but not _that_ many.

The rest of the day went by without any major problems and the base continued to run at its norm. It was not often things were this calm and there were no immediate threats to deal with.

The much anticipated afternoon arrived sooner than expected and word of the new arrivals entering the sector reached Atlantis.

* * *

Sheppard, McKay and Dr. Brown were summoned to the main hall as the guests had arrived in orbit and would be beamed down momentarily. Carter waited anxiously for their arrival and gave the all clear for them to be beamed in.

Seconds later five people stood before them—the ship captain, a crewman and the three new recruits. It was easy to tell them apart from their photos. The three new recruits were all dressed in smart uniforms. Dr. Julia West was dressed in a skirt and blouse, hair pinned up and a small bag in hand. Dr. Adam Lee, the scientist, was dressed in a standard science uniform and 1st Lt. Leah Turner was dressed in her air force smart uniform, skirt, blouse, blazer and hair neatly tied up.

Sheppard's little grin did not go unnoticed by Carter who greeted the captain, the group, then focused all her attention on Leah Turner, who had just glanced at Sheppard quickly then looked away shyly.

When Turner's eyes met with carters they both smiled. Turner dropped her bag and ran to Carter who met her halfway just as eager. They embraced in a hug much to Sheppard, Ronon and McKay's surprise. Not too concerned, McKay gestured to Dr. Lee to come with him unimpressed with everything and ready to get it all over with. Katie followed suite and met with Dr. West and welcomed her to Atlantis before leading her off to the labs.

"Sam!" Turner shouted all excited.

"Good to see you Leah." She replied.

"You have to tell me everything! It's been so long. We have so much to talk about."

Carter walked with Leah to retrieve her bag then began leading her towards her office. Sheppard was about to approach and introduce himself when Carter cut him off.

"I got this one John." She noted.

The two of them hurried up to the office and began catching up. Ronon gave Sheppard a raised brow look and patted him on the back for moral support.

"Um, sure okay." John muttered to himself utterly confused at what had just happened.

"Good luck with that one man." Ronon joked before heading off himself leaving Sheppard to stand there alone pondering what to do. Something suddenly occurred to him and with confidence and conviction he stormed off to Carter's office.

He knocked on the door and entered not waiting for an invite. "If I may have a word?" He asked Samantha who paused briefly in mid sentence with Leah.

She nodded and called in one of the security details and asked them to escort Turner to her quarters. "We'll catch up later." She said as Leah left the office.

When Leah was gone and they were alone, John spoke his mind. "What was that all about?"

Carter moved and sat behind her desk gesturing for John to have a seat. He hesitated but eventually sat down realising she was not going to tell him anything unless he calmed down.

"I am sorry John, I should have told you. I am reassigning Turner so you are off the hook."

"Since when?"

"Since now. I feel she will be better suited assigned to me. This does not reflect badly towards you in any way. I just think it would be more appropriate to learn in this environment, that's all."

John could tell there was something more to it and pressed her for answers. "Okay, I get that – I think. But you two seemed to know each other?"

Carter cleared her throat and looked a little guilty. "Well remember I told you I mentored someone back at the SGC? That's her."

A semi-satisfied expression crossed Sheppard's face and suddenly it all made sense. "Very well. Your call. I guess I'll just be going now." He concluded as he stood up.

Carter apologised once more as he left then sank into her own thoughts. Perhaps she was just being too over protective but in any case, this was for the best.

One evening, a few days later, Sheppard was doing his final rounds before heading to his quarters for the night. As he passed one of the balconies he noticed Turner standing outside looking out at the stars.

At first he hesitated and convinced himself to carry on walking, but then he stopped, moaned at himself for what he was about to do and joined her on the balcony.

She startled and turned to look at who was approaching her. He lifted his hands in a friendly gesture.

"Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you."

"That's okay, Sir. No harm done." She returned to look at the stars.

"Call me John." He said then walked and stood next to her noticing that she seemed troubled. "I don't mean to pry but is everything okay?" He asked.

She hesitated not sure if it was her place to talk to him or what to do. However, he was her superior and she could not talk to Carter about it, so in her reasoning she felt is was not too out of line to speak with him.

"Well it's nothing really. May I be frank and can this be kept between us?"

John nodded. "Of course."

She turned to face him and looked around to make sure they were alone. "I am so bored! This is so not what I thought I signed up for. Don't get me wrong, I respect Sam and she does a great job and is good at what she does, but it's just not me."

"Have you told her this?"

Turner looked to the floor and shook her head. "No. I can't, it would break her heart. I owe her so much. Please promise me you won't say anything."

Sheppard nodded in agreement and looked out over the ocean. Turner joined him and glared out over the vast darkness, both lost in thought.

"Wish I could just hit something, you know?" Turner suddenly blurted out then shyly cringed realising she said that out loud.

Sheppard laughed and smiled. "I have just the thing, come with me."

Unsure what to do, Leah followed him. Anything was better than wasting away in the cold being bored stiff. Soon he led her into a circular room. On the walls were padding and a few basic training weapons. She quickly realised that it was a combat training area and smiled in approval.

John removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. Leah followed his lead and took off her jacket as well then began to do a few basic stretches. John threw her a training staff which she caught and spun around in the air.

"Let's see what you are made of." He remarked teasing her recalling that she had martial arts training behind her.

"Very well, just remember, you asked for it." She teased back.

They both began circling when suddenly Leah stopped and straighten out. "Wait! We're not going to get into any trouble are we?"

"Of course not, you're with me." He assured her.

She returned to her stance for a second then stopped again. This time Sheppard stopped as well.

"Yes?"

Leah smiled. "So I'm not going to be court marshalled or anything for striking a superior officer right?"

"You presume you'll get that close but no, you're safe. Right now I am simply John. So less talk more hitting okay? Or are you chickening out?" He pushed.

Satisfied and focused, Leah returned to the fight at hand. She soon realised Sheppard was waiting for her to make the first move so she obliged and lunged in with a forceful jab to his side. John countered her strike and responded with a swing back which she gracefully ducked under.

While still in motion she swung her stick around low and swept his legs from under him landing him on the ground.

"Lucky shot." He admitted. Leah just smiled and waited for her opponent to get up. This is exactly what she needed, a good brawl to get rid of her stress.

They continued to spar and Leah got in another supposed lucky shot to his arm.

"Holding back on me John?" She joked.

He gave a fake sarcastic smile and rubbed his bruised arm.

"Just don't feel right hitting a girl that all."

Leah laughed. "You say the sweetest things."

They continued to spar for nearly an hour before they decided to call it quits for the night. During that time John did manage to get in a few strikes but for the most part she had him beat. She was definitely a fighter at heart not a politician.

At that moment Adam was heading down the hallway to his quarters. He had stayed up later than usual to work on a program. When he heard Leah's laughter as the doors opened he hid behind a wall. They were unaware that he was watching them. Leah and Sheppard stepped out of the room both smiling.

"Any time." Sheppard said and they bid their good nights and headed to their respective rooms.

Adam cringed at the thoughts that ran though his head seeing them together. After they cleared the halls, he marched angrily to his room.

To Be Continued...

* * *

**Disclaimer:** _Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee and Dr. Julia West._


	2. Chapter 2

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter 2**** – Misunderstandings**

The next day was just another day. Turner followed Carter around and did her best to seem interested, but Sheppard could see that she was bored out of her mind. Every once in a while if they passed each other he would give her a sympathetic smile and she'd sarcastically agree with her eyes.

Adam also paid close attention to them both becoming increasingly jealous and paranoid. Later at lunch, the three new recruits sat together as they always did since they arrived. Leah was very quiet listening to Dr. West tell them all about her day. At this point the inns and outs of plants seemed more interesting than anything Leah could share.

This time however, Leah was not really listening, her thoughts where elsewhere. She barely touched her food and every few seconds would glance up at the room as if looking for someone. Adam knew exactly who she was looking out for and this only fuelled his anger.

During the one way conversation Julia would always look to Adam for approval or acknowledgement but he did not pay her much attention either. Eventually she stopped talking and ate her lunch in silence like the others. That day Sheppard did not appear in the mess hall which was a common occurrence.

After lunch the three said their superficial good byes and returned to their posts. Julia noticed that Adam wanted to say something to Leah as they left but then stopped himself and stormed off in a huff. It was very unusual behaviour for Adam. Julia knew Adam had a crush on Leah and he was always friendly and overly supportive towards her. It saddened Julia to think that Leah knew this and yet treated him like nothing.

Julia always treated Adam well and with much respect yet he never noticed her. Leah was all he could see.

The day dragged on more so for Leah than anyone else. Samantha was always busy and they found little time to talk about things back home. If it was not one thing, it was another that required Sam's attention.

Leah was glad when it got late and it was time to turn in. She headed to her room and lay on her bed unable to fall asleep. After about an hour of tossing and turning she decided enough was enough. If she was to spend her time there being bored, at least she did not have to be bored the entire duration of her stay.

She quickly got dressed and headed to Sheppard's room. After knocking for a short time she realised that he was either not there or he was ignoring her.

"Stupid!" She cursed herself quietly and backed away from the door.

Just then a familiar voice greeted her from behind. "Leah?"

It was Lt. Col. Sheppard. A shocked looked crossed her face but she composed herself before turning to face him. With a small wave and smile she greeted him back.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" He asked.

"Yes well, I couldn't sleep."

There was an awkward pause for a brief moment as both of them were not sure what to say. Finally Leah broke the silence.

"So um, you did say any time right?" She shyly asked.

Sheppard raised a brow trying to not to think inappropriate thoughts and managed to get out a coherent sentence. "Well, what did you have in mind?"

Leah looked around the halls and took a step closer. "I was hoping maybe you can show me inside one of the jumpers? Sam's been promising me but she never gets around to it."

Sheppard contemplated for a moment and was relieved that she didn't want to spar with him again. He swore to himself that next time she asked he would kindly invite Ronon to take the beating instead.

"Please?" She begged. "I am going absolutely crazy." She reinforced.

John Sheppard knew she was a pilot when he read her file and understood where she was coming from. He too, if he were in her situation, would try to get a glimpse of the ships. He finally nodded and agreed making her promise not to tell anyone or they both would get into a lot of trouble.

Leah promised with a salute and her face lit up with excitement.

"Come on then." He gestured as they began walking towards the hanger just around the corner, Adam stood absolutely still. He was on his way to go speak to Leah to confront her about his suspicions but instead found the two of them in the hall way. He decided to follow.

A few minutes later Sheppard and Turner arrived in the hanger bay. It was late so there was nobody around. He headed to one of the jumpers and activated it. As the door opened, Leah gleamed in excitement. This was the first time she had seen an Atlantean jumper.

Adam was unable to follow them into the hanger without giving away his position. Seeing them go in there together was all he needed to further support his qualms.

They were in the hanger bay for at least two hours talking about their flying experiences. Sheppard showed her the controls of the jumper and shared some interesting stories about their adventures. Leah listened intently and was fascinated by it all. That was where she should be, out in the field making a difference, not locked up in some office sitting on the sidelines.

Sheppard knew this all too well and felt pity for her situation.

Over the next few nights they would get together and sneak off to either go spar or practice in the flight simulation in secret. If not for this, Leah would have sunk into a deep depression by now, their little rebellious outings where what kept her going.

All this time Adam was keeping a close eye on them and every time he caught them together he would only get more angry and jealous. One day at lunch, Leah did not come and sit with them. Instead, she waited near the entrance with lunch in a container.

That day Sheppard and Turner had decided to take the jumper out for a test flight during lunch. Leah waited patiently for Sheppard to arrive and had their lunch ready packed for the journey.

"You ready?" He asked as he entered the mess hall.

"Do you have to ask?" Leah responded trying not to jump up and down like a little girl about to go on her first roller coaster ride.

They left the mess hall under Adam's penetrating glare. Julia tried to ask him what was wrong but he simply ignored her. After a minute or two of deliberating with himself, Adam stood up, left his food and marched straight to Col. Carter's office. Julia might as well have been invisible but decided to follow him to make sure he was okay.

Perhaps taking the jumper out during the day on a false test flight was not the best plan Sheppard and Leah had come up with, but it was the only way she could get to fly it without raising too many questions.

* * *

Adam reached Carter's office and knocked on the door. She signalled for him to come in but was on her headset talking to a technician in one of the sectors getting an update report. The conversation did not last long but to Adam it seemed to take forever.

While he waited he nervously contemplated if he was doing the right thing. Then jealously overwhelmed him once again as he thought of the two of them together and was confident in his actions.

Meanwhile John and Leah reached the hanger bay and signed off the flight path as a 'test flight'.

"Are you sure we won't get into trouble?" Leah asked concerned but not too concerned to call it all off.

"Nah." John replied unconvincingly. Either way they were going ahead with this. John powered up the shuttle and then stepped away form the controls.

"Take her out." He said.

Leah almost leaped into the pilot chair not questioning in fear that he would change his mind. She had practiced this enough times by now to know what she was doing. Luckily for her, they discovered while she was with the SGC that she had the ATA gene which was one of the many reasons she was chosen for this program.

The shuttle engines roared to life and the hanger bay doors opened. Soon they were out of the city walls and gliding along the ocean surface. John was glad to see Leah gleaming with excitement. He had total faith in her piloting abilities, enough so to sit back and relax.

Suddenly the com link lit up and hailed them. A familiar voice come over the intercom.

"John? What are you doing?" Said Col. Carter in a surprised tone.

"Um, nothing much and you?" He responded trying to be vague but seemed nervous.

Carter took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. "John, return to Atlantis immediately. We need to talk—both of you."

Then the com link went dead. Carter was not going to wait for an explanation, this she wanted to deal with in person.

"I'm sorry." Leah apologised.

"Not your fault, don't worry about it. I got this under control."

After returning to the city, both Sheppard and Turner headed for her office.

"Tell her it was my idea. She'll forgive me. I don't want you loosing your job over this." Leah pleaded which caused John to stop and face her.

"Look, I said don't worry about it. I'll handle this." Before she was able to respond he gave her a look that shut her up. There was no arguing with him, he was stubborn. At the end of it all Leah planned to take the blame anyway and tell Samantha it was all her doing. After all, this would not be the first time she's gotten into trouble or taken the blame for things.

When they reached Carter's office, Adam and Julia were already waiting outside. Carter asked John to go in and talk to her alone.

"Adam? Julia? What's going on?" Leah asked her friends.

Julia gave a disappointed look towards Adam then hung her head in shame. Adam remained stern and did not say anything. As soon as the doors to the office shut they could tell there was a heated argument going on but they could not make out what it was about.

"What were you thinking John!" Carter shouted. John tried to answer but could not get a word out before carter continued to shout. "She's nearly ten years younger than you not to mention you're her superior officer! I am disappointed in you John, I really…"

Mid-sentence John cut her off. "Hey wait a minute. Hold your horses. Are implying that Leah and I are, you know," he paused briefly choosing his words carefully, "that's absurd. Why would you think that?"

Carter stopped to think for a minute and looked in Adam's direction briefly.

"Him?" John asked shocked and confused why Adam, whom he barely knew, would tell such lies. "Look, I am not sure what he told you but whatever it is it's not how it looks." He defended.

"Then explain it to me John. Is Adam lying? Have you or have you not been sneaking around the base with Lt. Turner?"

"Yes but it's not what it seems."

"Explain, and this better be good."

Carter sat in her chair behind her desk and put her head in her hands. John approached the desk and leaned on it contemplating what to say. He promised Leah he would not tell Carter this but circumstances have changed and he felt he was left with no choice.

"Look, I promised her I would not say anything but you should know—she's been miserable."

Carter looked up in confusion. "What? What has that got to do with anything?"

"You mean you knew?"

"That she was unhappy? Yes, but I still don't understand."

"You know as well I do that she's better off under me." Samantha's head jolted up and the look she shot John could have killed a thousand men. "You know what I mean Sam, assign her someplace else. She's a fighter and you know it. Why would you put her in a position you knew she's be miserable in?"

Samantha knew John fairly well by now and knew his intentions were admirable. Perhaps her worries were misplaced.

"Alright John. She's all yours."

John stood up and twisted a kink out of his neck. "Thank you, you're doing the right thing."

As he turned to leave Samantha stopped him and gave him a stern warning. "And John."

"Yes?"

"Leah is like a little sister to me. I'm all she has. If anything where to happen to her..." She trailed off.

"It won't."

"But if anything did." She enforced hoping he understood the full severity of her warning.

"You have nothing to worry about." He assured her as he opened the door and walked out the office. On his way out he walked past Leah who looked to him for hope. All he offered was a smile and pat on the back then proceeded to walk on.

Carter called Leah into her office next and asked her to shut the door behind her. Leah immediately began defending Sheppard but before she could explain further, Samantha raised her hand and silenced the outburst.

"I am assigning you to Sheppard for the remainder of your stay." Is all she said.

Leah stood there in shock unsure of how to respond. This was not what she was expecting to hear and it caught her off guard. Her body simply began to react and she walked around the desk and gave Carter a hug.

"Thank you."

* * *

**Disclaimer:** _Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story._


	3. Chapter 3

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter ****3 – Training**

Leah walked out of Carter's office gleaming with joy. She almost skipped up to Adam and Julia and gave them both a hug. Julia was relieved that nobody got into trouble but Adam was stunned. This was not his plan, his plan was to keep Leah further away from John not the opposite. He has only shot himself in the foot.

"Adam! Isn't this great?" Leah smiled. "We're assigned to the same team now. I'm so happy."

Adam tried to smile back and thought to himself that this might not be such a bad outcome. Now that Leah was part of his team, he could keep a better eye on her and Sheppard.

"Lee!" Shouted a voice from below. Rodney stood there impatiently and waved his hand in the air indicating for Lee to hurry up.

"Oh no! I almost forgot." Adam called out as he ran off with Rodney.

Leah giggled and looked at Julia who did not seem impressed.

"What's wrong Julia?" She asked concerned for her friend. Leah and Julia had not known each other too long and although they worked in completely opposite departments, they always tried to keep in touch and became good friends.

"Leah, why do you torture him so?"

Turner had to think for a moment but soon realised what Julia was referring to. She put her arm around Julia and began motioning for the mess hall in the hopes that they could still grab a cup of coffee and catch up. Since Leah had been sneaking off with Sheppard, her spare time became null and void leaving the two ladies little quality time.

Julia twisted out from under Leah's arm. "Sorry, maybe some other time, I got to go, Dr. Brown is expecting me."

"Oh, okay then. Another time."

Julia walked off and left Leah standing unsure of what to do next. Luckily after a few moments Ronon arrived.

"Hey Leah."

"Hey Ronon."

They stood there for a second and Ronon smiled. "Sheppard asked me to show you the ropes."

Much to Leah's relief she smiled back and nodded. For a minute there she was worried, when Ronon smiled, you tended to become worried as you could never tell what lay behind the smile.

She followed him as he showed her where the change rooms where, her new uniform and the armoury. He also shared stories of when he first arrived in Atlantis and how lost he used to get in the halls. After a brief hurried tour Ronon smiled again and offered Leah a sparing session.

"I appreciate the offer Ronon, but I am sure you have a lot more pressing matters to attend than babysit me for the day." She objected knowing all to well of Ronon's reputation in sparing.

"Nope nothing. I am all yours." He smiled again and could see the worry on her face. "I'll take it easy don't worry. Come on."

She hesitated then decided to go along with it. After all there was much she could learn from him in the ways of hand-to-hand combat. She just prayed that the beating she was about to get was worth it.

Soon, after some warm ups and a lot of silence, both Ronon and Leah took to the mat. He tossed her a training staff and took up a position of invitation and defencelessness.

"I heard you gave Sheppard quite a run. Don't hold back."

Leah smirked and took on an aggressive stance in preparation. "Very well."

She made the first move knowing he would easily defend himself. However this was her plan, to use his over confidence to lure him into relaxing just a bit for her to strike. It worked like a dream, like a dance they fought and Leah appeared to be giving it all she had and Ronon teased by putting one hand behind his back. Then suddenly out of nowhere the wooden staff came from above striking Ronon on the shoulder. This was unexpected and caught him off guard but the strike did not stop there. Not before long he had to use both hands now and defend off the forceful attacks.

Leah was fast and unrelenting getting in another strike to his back. She was agile and nimble and fast on her feet. Her blows where not that hard but they came in fast and plenty.

Enough was enough, Ronon had little patience and began fighting back. She could not match his strength and soon was forced backwards off the mat up against the wall. He had her pinned.

"Uncle!" Leah managed to say very much out of breath.

"Well played. I am impressed." He responded and stepped back giving her room to breath.

After she caught her breath she straightened out and went into a stance. "Again?" She smiled eager to continue.

Ronon shrugged and went to go exchange the staff for another weapon. This time he took the Kali sticks and waked onto the mat.

"Have it your way." He joked.

They continued to spar until both of them were on the floor completely exhausted. Neither one wanted to seem weak and give up.

"I'm starving." Leah complained rubbing her bruised arm.

"Me too." He agreed. They cleaned up and headed to the mess hall for a late diner.

* * *

Meanwhile Rodney and Adam had just finished working on some calculations and decided to call it a night. Although he would never admit it, Rodney was impressed with Adam and actually enjoyed having an intellectual conversation for once.

"I'm starving." Rodney confessed and suggested they both grab a late diner. Adam on the other hand was not very hungry and decided to pass and head to bed.

Not one to argue or miss out on food, Rodney nodded and made his way to the mess hall. Adam began walking to his quarters but soon started to stray. Not before long he found himself standing in front of Leah's door. He stood there for a long time in a daze. Every once so often getting the nerve to raise his hand and knock but never seeing it through. After failing to find the courage to actually knock, he wondered off to his room.

* * *

Back at the mess hall, two tired people wondered in only to find Sheppard and Rodney already there. Sheppard just had a beverage in front of him but Rodney had an entire meal and was eating as if it was going to disappear.

"Oh hey!" Rodney said with a half-full mouth of food.

"Hey." Ronon responded and began sifting through the food for something decent.

Leah also dug around and found something tasteful then walked with Ronon towards the table where Sheppard and Rodney sat.

"Late night?" Sheppard enquired as they sat down. Leah flinched as she sat feeling her muscles already begin to stiffen from the vigorous work out. Ronon just smiled.

"Just getting her into shape." He joked and gave Leah a sarcastic look. She responded with an equally cynical stare.

"Glad to see you getting along. So Leah," Sheppard began, "I need to take a jumper out tomorrow for a test flight."

She looked at him suspiciously and he realised how it sounded.

"A real test flight this time." He corrected. "Rodney over here and his young protégé Adam have been working on some stream lining program and they want me to test it out. Thought you might like to tag along."

Rodney tried to swallow the food in his mouth to explain his ingenious program but did not manage to get a word out before Sheppard cunningly interrupted him. They all knew once Rodney began explaining it could take hours.

"But you can always sit this one out if you are too, um, tired."

He looked at her weary face and could tell she was in a little discomfort. Ronon must have really gone all out and pushed her to her limits. If she was in this much agony already one could only imagine how stiff she would be in the morning.

"You're kidding right?" Leah interjected. "Count me in."

"Very well, suit yourself. Ronon?" He asked already knowing the answer. Ronon simply waved his hand indicating a clear 'no way in hell' response. He hated being stuck on a jumper especially on one of McKay's little experimental missions. They usually ended up him being bored and a waste of time.

Leah stood up and took her untouched food with her. "In that case I think I'll head of to bed. Don't leave without me." She warned.

Turner did not eat much that night and headed straight for her room. There she found a small bag of personal belongings and removed a bottle of lotion from it. It was an ancient Chinese herbal remedy for bruises and over-worked muscles. She has had many occasions to use this treatment and it really worked for her. That and a disciplined stretch routine helped soothe and calm her aching limbs till eventually she fell asleep.

The next morning arrived sooner than she would have liked but she was able to get up and prepare for her outing. When she looked at the clock again she panicked and realised that she was running late.

In the jumper bay, Rodney and Adam were putting the finishing touches on the jumper's interface. Sheppard was also there filing the flight plan. Just then Turner walked in fastening her holster clips with a slice of toast dangling in her mouth.

Sheppard snatched the toast from her mouth and grinned. "Allow me." He offered holding the toast while she finished sorting out her uniform. She took the toast back when she was done and began eating it quickly.

"How are you feeling this morning?" He enquired.

"Fine."

"McKay?" He turned looking into the jumper. McKay and Adam were debating a small issue quietly and neither answered.

"Go run the pre-flight." He ordered Turner. "McKay!" He barked again.

"Yes, yes, almost done, there. All set."

"Fine let's get on with it."

Adam looked up surprised to see Leah. He quickly looked away unable to make eye contact. He knew there was a chance she would come along but was hoping otherwise.

"Morning Adam." Leah greeted but Adam just smiled falsely then pretended to be preoccupied with some calculation on his work pad.

Sheppard allowed Leah to take the jumper out but kept a close eye on her. Normally being scrutinised this minutely would unnerve her but today she was just too excited to care. Every once in a while Sheppard would be the typical back seat driver and correct Leah on a small thing. It was obvious he struggled not being in control of the craft so she was grateful he was allowing her this chance to pilot it.

The test involved taking the jumper out of the atmosphere to get an accurate reading if the program was functioning. This is where Sheppard took over flight controls and prepared to take the jumper into orbit.

Before he could move it an inch, the comm unit lit up. It was Carter.

"John you there?" She asked sounding a little concerned.

"Go ahead Sam."

"John I am a bit concerned. Early this morning Dr. Brown and a team went inland to check on a project they have running there on some of the native flora. They missed their check in. Probably just lost track of time like last time but I would like it if you wouldn't mind to go check it out?"

Rodney sighed as he knew this meant putting a hold on his experiment but then again Katie was out there and he could not let anything happened to her.

"Sure no problem. Sheppard out."

Rodney went to go sit in the co-pilot seat shooing Turner out of the chair.

"What you waiting for? Let's go." He urged looking at John concerned for the woman he almost married.

Sheppard immediately began heading toward the co-ordinates Carter sent them. Turner moved to the back and sat next to Adam who was clearly avoiding her. Lee wanted to move to another seat but Leah stopped him and placed her hand on his arm.

"I wanted to thank you Adam. I don't know what you said to them or what happened but thanks to you I am now here right where I wanted to be."

Adam looked guilty then slightly angry. "You shouldn't thank me. This was not my intent." He shrugged and moved to the seat on the opposite side.

Before Leah could respond McKay interrupted.

"What's that?" He asked pointing out over the horizon.

Sheppard called up the sensor readings and confirmed that it was a developing storm. The horizon was quickly becoming bleak and dark.

"Let's hurry this up shall we? Don't want to get caught in that thing."

They all looked at each other in concern and agreed. The sooner they could find Dr. Brown and her team, the better.

**Disclaimer:** _Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee and Dr. Julia West._


	4. Chapter 4

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter ****4 – The Unexpected**

Sheppard announced their approach and they could see a small clearing below where the science team's jumper already stood. It only took them eight minutes to reach the expedition site as they were already far out from Atlantis and near the coastal shores.

"Odd." Sheppard commented.

"What? What's wrong?" Rodney panicked already fearing the worst.

"No life signs near the jumper and long range sensors don't seem to be working."

Rodney shifted in his seat and said nothing.

"Rodney?" Sheppard asked implying it was something he did.

"Well we had to disable them for the program to work. How was I supposed to know we would need them."

"Can you fix it?"

"Of course." McKay assured as if Sheppard ever doubted him. "However it will take me few minutes or so."

"A few minutes?"

"Twenty to be precise with Adam helping me." He eyed Adam and prepared for Sheppard's usually sarcastic comment.

Sheppard wanted to ask why it would take so long but knew he'd just get some technical explanation that made no sense anyway. Instead he kept quiet and landed the jumper next to the other one.

"Well we don't have time, the storm is moving fast so Leah and I are going to search on foot. You and Adam stay here and fix the jumper. I want it back to normal before we get back. Got it?"

Rodney gave another heavy sigh as yet again an opportunity to run one of his experiments has turned into a disaster. I wasn't a simple matter of requesting another chance as they didn't always feel the need to encourage McKay's experiments. More often than not they ended in problems. After weeks of begging they finally let him have this possibility and now it was gone.

Sheppard opened the weapons case and handed Leah and stunner and rifle. It was standard procedure to be prepared for anything and Leah knew this all to well. She simply followed long and avoided questioning or speaking up. Sheppard and Turner were now in rescue mode.

They left the jumper as Rodney and Adam began working on restoring the ship back to normal. Rodney started complaining to himself about people bever appreciating his work or taking him seriously. Turner and Sheppard could hear him complain in the background.

"He does not sound too happy." She pointed out.

"Yeah well, you get used to it. This way." He pointed and Leah followed without question.

It had only been recently that teams were allowed onto the main land to explore. This particular planet was well know for its unpredictable storms and it was rare that people would be allowed out beyond the city limits.

Dr. Brown discovered a specimen of plant on one of her previous expeditions but did not respond well to the artificial environment she subjected it to. She believed the plant held valuable properties and insisted it be studied. The only problem was it needed to be studied in its natural environment until she could find a way to harvest it.

They were busy setting up a small lab in the area to study the plant and this was only the third time ever Dr. Brown and her team have come out there.

Sheppard help up a small device and gave a frown looking at it. It was the portable life signs sensor but it was only giving off feint readings.

"The camp should be this way." He assured and began moving slightly faster. Turner gladly kept up and showed no sign of fatigue. John was impressed at her recover after the beating she took with Ronon. Or perhaps she was just good at faking it.

They reached the camp site in less than five minutes only to find it empty. Turner began searching the tent and reported back that it too was empty. Sheppard knelt to the ground and called Turner to come and take a look. He pointed to the disturbed ground and she confirmed his suspicions.

"A struggle." She noted following the markings up a small way which quickly lead them to several sets of foot prints.

"At least four people." She added.

Sheppard held up his sensor again in the same direction of the foot prints.

"I am getting feint readings that way." He then cursed the storm as it was notorious for disrupting electronic equipment and radioed McKay with a brief update.

The immediately began heading out fearing that the science team got lost or worse. They ran forwards some rough terrain about two minutes out form the camp site. The foot prints held strong as they were less than an hour old. There was no sign of pursuers or animal tracks which gave them some reason to be less worried.

"Probably just got lost as Carter said." He noted as he looked to his sensor once again. Leah glanced up at the sky which was beginning to turn grey.

"I doubt it." She added with concern. "They were definitely running so something must have scared them."

"Well you know those scientist types, the slightest noise can startle them."

"I suppose, still, we better hurry." She advised pointing up at the darkening sky.

Sheppard packed the sensor away as it was now completely useless. They began running following the foot prints until they reached a cave-like opening sticking out from the ground.

"This can't be good." He concluded. Turner agreed.

Without wasting time they entered the opening armed with stunners at the ready and flash lights in hand. Once inside John called out and waited for any response but none came. They ventured further in to the opening as it descended several feet. It was difficult to tell if they came this way in the dim light but the foot prints lead up to this cave so it was the only logical course to take.

Turner called out this time and after a few seconds they heard a soft 'hello' coming from deeper in. They quickly hurried to the source constantly calling out. By now they could hear Dr. Brown clearly but they were still not in sight.

"Down here!" Katie called out. "Hurry! Before it comes back."

A minute later Sheppard and Turner arrived in a small cavern where the four scientists huddled together in fear as if they had just seen a ghost.

"Is every one okay?" John asked the frightened group.

"What happen?" Tuner queried as she searched the small space for clues.

Julia West stepped forward and ran to Turner. "It came out of nowhere and chased us here." She huffed.

"Julia! You're okay. Thank goodness." Turner exhaled in relief. She should have guessed Julia would be with Dr. Brown and was glad no harm had come to them. "We found no animal tracks." She noted thinking that John was right and that they must have gotten a fright over nothing.

"Let's get out of here there's a storm approaching and trust me you don't want to be our here when it hits." John warned and began wrangling the people out.

Katie grabbed John's arm and gave him a stern and serious look. "It's out there John, I saw it. It moves in the trees."

He paused for a moment and contemplated that the continent was for the most part still unexplored and she could very well be telling the truth.

"Very well, Turner you lead them out I'll make sure the way is clear. If that thing is out there, I'll find it." He quickly departed and began making his way out the cave and attempted to contact Rodney on the radio.

"Rodney."

There was just static. This is when John wished Ronon was with them.

Back in the cave with the scientists Leah did her best to lead the group out. They moved a lot slower and were constantly panicked. She had to reassure them that everything was going to be alright.

Just then she heard gun fire coming from the entrance.

"John!" She shouted and began moving quickly. "Stay here." She instructed the group and handed Julia the stunner then quickly vanished around the corner after Sheppard.

As she exited the cave mouth the winds were already beginning to blow strong. She called out for Sheppard but got no response and with much despair found his automatic rifle lying on the ground. She crouched down and checked the riffle conforming that there were several shots fired and they were fired from this gun and it was in deed Sheppard's weapon.

Then she noticed a few blood splatters and tried to radio Rodney again.

"McKay! Come in McKay. Adam! Anybody!" She called out but only got static in return. She had to decide fast what to do. Did she return and help the scientitsis to saftly or go after Sheppard.

Just then the static on her radio cleared up somewhat and she could hear a fient voice.

"Bzzzt…Leah?"

"Adam? Oh thank goodness it you. I can barely hear you."

"We managed to boost the signal and have pinpointed your location bzzzzt…" Static interfered and the howling wind made it difficult to hear. "…coming to get you."

A small smidgen of hope lit Leah's heart and knew what to do.

"Adam, come get the scientist, I'm going after Sheppard—they'll explain when you get here—hurry!"

Without wasting anymore precious seconds Leah began tracking the blood into a large bundle of tall trees. She had to concentrate hard to not let her worries cloud her focus and convince herself that is was not Sheppard's blood.

The air had gotten unclear filled with dust particles and little sunlight. Wading through the trees was becoming increasingly more difficult. Recalling what Dr. Brown said, Leah did not look as often to the ground as she did the tree tops. However, the blood splatters were now different. They were more spaced out and distorted as if they fell for some height.

"T…Turner.." Came a weak voice.

She immediately looked up as a large lizard-like creature leaped out from the braches towards her. She fired her automatic rifle at the beast being very careful not to hit Sheppard who was pinned up on a branch.

The animal screeched in pain and ran off. Leah followed it for a few meters continuing to fire making sure it ran far enough away to give them time to escape.

A hand touched her shoulder and she startled. It was Sheppard.

"Thanks, now let's get out of here before that thing returns."

She nodded and followed Sheppard back to the cave informing him about the others on the way and making sure he was not injured. Aside from a few bruises he was fine.

They made it back to the cave and found a jumper outside. Everyone was already inside. By now it had begun to drizzle and the sun was a mere glimpse between the clouds.

Sheppard wasted no time taking to the pilot seat with Leah at his side and took off with a shaky start before heading back to Atlantis.

Everyone was quiet contained to their own thoughts while they headed back to the city leaving the approaching storm behind them. They radioed ahead to inform the base of their arrival then docked and sent everyone to the infirmary for a check up.

Nobody was harmed only shaken up except Sheppard. He had several bruises on his ribs and a nasty bump on his head. The doctor ran a scan non-the-less just to be sure there was no internal bleeding. He lay on the table and turned his head to the side to find Leah sitting on the table next to him.

"Leah? Where you hurt?" He enquired concerned.

"No not from today. The doctor found my bruises and she won't believe me that they were from my sparing match with Ronon yesterday. I am fine."

"Yeah well perhaps she should check you out anyway. Ronon hits really hard, trust me I know."

"Ha, that's why I'm here, she insisted."

They both laughed and both cringed in pain. Now that the adrenalin wore off, Leah could feel all her aches and pains from the night before and Sheppard was feeling the pain as well from being tossed around like a rag down by the creature.

Carter walked into the infirmary as the doctor was running Sheppard's scan.

"How are you two?" She enquired.

"Fine." They both answered simultaneously and smiled. The joke was lost on Carter but she knew better than to argue about it, besides, if they weren't fine the doctor would tell her.

They were both ordered to take a few days to recuperate and Carter reminded them to get their reports in as soon as able. After they were both dismissed from the infirmary Sheppard pulled Leah aside making sure nobody could overhear them.

"I just wanted to say thank you again."

"You're welco…"She tried to respond but he cut her off mid-word and angrily complained.

"But what were you thinking! That was reckless and dangerous and what you should have done was get the others to safely."

Leah was shocked and could not believe she was getting moaned at for saving his life. "But.." She tried to defend however he would have none of it.

"But nothing. Those people were in your care and you left them to defend for themselves? I had the situation under control. I lured that thing away on purpose to give you all a chance to escape. Did you forget your training. Don't let it happen again."

Leah sadly looked to the floor ashamed that she disappointed the man she looked up to. She was here to learn from the best and learn she did. As Sheppard walked away she desperately wanted to say something but the words where stuck in her throat and she could not say a thing.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** _Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee and Dr. Julia West._


	5. Chapter 5

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter ****5 – Ruins**

The next day Carter sat in her office reading over everyone's report regarding the incident on the mainland. They all reported seeing the same thing, a lizard like creature that moved in the trees.

Dr. Brown and Dr. West's report added something interesting. They both noted seeing the creature feed on the plants they were studying. What was even more interesting was that they both also reported seeing strange ruins inside the cave.

Colonel Sheppard's report was short and simple as always stating just the facts. He got a close look at the creature and described it as having no teeth, just a long slimy tongue and its claws were blunt and stubby. Turner's report had fewer facts and was written more colourfully. Carter remembered how Leah used to enjoy writing her reports and always added her own flair to the way things happened. Yet, this report came across less vibrant than usual.

She contacted Turner and asked her to come see her. Minutes later Leah arrived in Carter's office bringing with her two cups of coffee and a packet of choc-chip cookies.

"Where'd you get those?" Carter enquired over the biscuits. She knew they were not from around there as she definitely had a craving a while back and did not find any.

"From back home of course. I managed to sneak them in with my personal item. Don't tell okay?" Leah laughed and opened the packet helping herself to one of the creamy biscuits.

Carter smiled and shook her head taking one of them herself. Back home when they used to meet for coffee, Leah always had a bag of chocolate chipped cookies.

"So I read your report. Interesting reading as always. Would you like to talk about it?" Carter enquired.

Leah shrugged and said nothing helping herself to another delight.

"Whoa, slow down on the sugar. If something is bothering you, you know you can talk to me. As your commander or as your friend okay?"

Turner nodded and assured Carter that everything was fine when in deed it was not. She barely got any sleep that night playing Sheppard's words over in her mind. She was conflicted with her heart, what her mind was telling her and his painful words. If she had done wrong the words would not have mattered as much because she would accept them—but she could not accept them as she truly believed she acted with the right course of action.

Carter gave Leah a moment with her thoughts then asked her about the ruins they saw. Leah skimmed the reports and confessed that she did not see any ruins but trusted Julia.

Just then there was a nock at the door, it was Sheppard. Carter slid the packet of biscuits into her desk draw and allowed him to enter.

"Carter. Turner." He greeted. "If this is a bad time I can come back."

"No, sit." Carter ordered.

Leah stood up as John hesitantly sat next to her obviously still a little in discomfort from his encouter. "I just remembered I have to be somewhere." She lied but Carter would not let her leave.

"No, sit." She ordered again and noticed the tension between the two of them. "Is there something going on that I should know about?" She asked.

Simultaneously they answered together, "No."

After a brief pause Sheppard continued. "You wanted to see me?"

Part of Carter wanted to know what was going on but she also knew them both well enough to leave it be and let it work itself out. What ever it was she just had to trust them.

"Yes. Have your read the reports?" She enquired. John nodded and glanced over to Turner briefly with 'I'm sorry' written all over his face.

"They want us to go investigate the ruins and scrap the project Dr. Brown was running. I was going to send Major Lorne and his team but they are not due back for a few days. We still need to retrieve the other jumper and I don't feel confident sending anyone else. Now Dr. Keller recommended you take a day or so to recuperate but she has cleared you for active duty. John, if you are not alright for this say so now."

John shifted in his seat and grinned. "We're good to go." He confirmed.

"Alright then. For what we can ascertain, the creature is manly a plant eater and was most likely just startled while feeding or defending its territory. However it is still out there so be careful. Here are your mission parameters." She stated as she handed him a thin file. "You leave in two hours, get your team ready and take Dr. Brown with so she can pack up her instruments."

John stood and nodded in silence.

"Oh and John, be careful. No heroics this time alright." Samantha hinted.

He gave a sarcastic smirk and looked at Turner. "You coming?" He asked.

She stood up surprised as she thought that she was in trouble or that he had less faith in her decision making abilities to take her along. However, this was not the time to question his motives so she agreed and followed him out.

Once a fair distance away from Carter's office, Sheppard stopped them and took a deep breath.

"Look, about the other day." He began. "I'm sorry I raised my voice. I was just…concerned."

Turner realised that this was some kind of apology and that men were notorious for never admitting their mistakes. So it must be really difficult for him to say anything. Still, she needed to hear him say it so that she could have some peace of mind.

"I can take care of myself John." She reinforced.

"But I am responsible for you so if anything happened." He stopped and looked back at Carter's office.

"She made you swear to look out for me didn't she?" Leah surmised knowing Samantha all too well. "I get it, I do. But you and Sam need to realise I am a big girl and I make my own decisions. If they get me hurt then so be it. My choice. You can't protect me."

Sheppard shrugged. "Yeah I know but still, do me a favour and stay out of trouble okay?"

Turner agreed to try her best but made no promises. They spent the next hour or so preparing for the trip. Later that morning the team met up in the jumper bay. They were only taking one jumper and all eight of them had to cram into the small vehicle. There was enough room for each person to have their own seat but there was little space to move around in.

Sheppard took point with Turner assisting. He made sure to quiz her on the jumper during the trip. At the back of the jumper, Rodney and Adam sat together discussing an equation while Dr. Brown and West planned how they were going to pack up the camp site while saving as much data as they could. The four of them had spent many hours that night trying to devise a way to bring back some plant specimens without compromising the plant's integrity. She was not backing down and believed the plant held valuable properties so Carter allowed them to come up with a plan as they would no longer be allowed to study the specimen on the main land.

They devised a storage container that could simulate the conditions but it was small and could only store one young plant. It was still better than nothing. Katie was planning to prove her theories in the hope that they would somehow allow her to continue her work.

Ronon sat behind Sheppard keeping to himself while the other seat was taken up by a Lieutenant Smith. Sheppard was insistent to bring the extra gun hand.

They arrived on site about thirty minutes later and landed the jumper in the clearing. Sheppard was relieved to find the other jumper still in one piece after the storm the day before. The skies were clearer and the sun bright. Evidence of the hectic storm was everywhere.

"Alright split into two teams." Sheppard began to order. "Turner, Ronon take Dr. Brown and West to get her things. Lee you're with them, they might need your help. The rest with me. Check in every thirty minutes. We'll rendezvous with you at the camp site when we are done."

Everyone knew what to do and gathered their things preparing to set off. Sheppard pulled his people aside away from the squeamish scientists.

"Just remember that thing is still out there and who knows how many there are. I know they don't think it's a major threat but be on your guard."

Ronon smiled. "Shoot to kill?" He asked looking forward to a tussle with the beast.

Sheppard confirmed and sent them on their separate ways.

Turner led the doctors to the camp site while Ronon scouted ahead. Everything was washed clean and there was no sign of the creature. They stuck to the open as much as possible avoiding the danger of the trees. Adam avoided Leah as where and when able glad that the ladies were doing most of the talking.

A few minutes later they arrived at the camp. The tent was in ruins and most of the equipment was damaged but Katie and Julia were confident that with Lee's help they could salvage something and began working on it without delay.

Turner and Ronon secured the area and helped gather some of the things. Dr. Brown left Juila with Adam to retrieve the data and asked Turner if she could go gather up a specimen. Turner instructed Ronon to go with her and offered stay and at the camp. The plants were scattered all around the area and they would not have to go far to find a viable candidate.

Meanwhile Sheppard's team reached the cave entrance and after scouting the area and finding no sign of the creature, they proceeded to enter the cave. The floor was unstable as a lot of debris and mud washed into the cave due to the storm.

They managed to reach the chamber as per Dr. Browns recollections and McKay began recording the markings on the walls. Sheppard wondered off and started exploring the rest of the cave.

Not far from their position Sheppard discovered a small opening that seamed to lead to another chamber. He crouched down and shone his torch in the opening only to find something he wish he hadn't seen.

He ran back to the others and urged them to hurry up.

"McKay, hurry it up."

Rodney gave a huff. "Look, this takes time. I'm a scientist not an archaeologist. Which begs the question why did you bring me along?"

"Well you were the only one availed." Sheppard admitted in a joking manner.

"Of course I was. Typical."

"Look I found something and I really think we should be leaving now." John warned with concern.

Rodney suddenly froze in a panic. "What? The Lizard? Where!?"

"Calm down Rodney. No sign of the Lizard." He assured.

"Oh thank goodness you scared me half to death."

"Just her eggs." He added calmly.

"What!?" Rodney exploded and began fussing over his things trying to gather them up. "We have to go."

"Yes that's what I've been trying to tell you Rodney. But first, did you get what we came for?"

Rodney stood there with his equipment in his arms staring past Sheppard. "Well no, not yet."

"Then finish it McKay. We're not leaving here without that information. We've got you covered. Just hurry up alright?"

Rodney nodded and wasted no more time. Sheppard instructed Lt. Smith to keep an eye on McKay while he headed back out to the entrance to make sure the creature was nowhere nearby and to get a better radio signal. It was almost time for their scheduled check in.

"Wait! You're not leaving me alone in here?" Rodney panicked.

"No I am leaving you with Lt. Smith. Besides, there's only one way in and out of this cave so you will be fine. I got the entrance covered. Just.." He began only to be cut off by Rodney who finished his sentence.

"Yes, yes, hurry up - I know."

Back at the camp site Turner and Sheppard were talking on the radio. He updated her to their situation and in turn Turner updated them.

"We found the lizard." She confirmed. "It was badly wounded from our gun fire yesterday and I guess it did not survive the storm. They are almost done here. Shall we wait for you or meet back at the jumpers?"

"We're also almost done. Meet back at the jumpers. Sheppard out."

Turner went to go find Dr. Brown who had successfully gathered a young plant and packed the container securely in a bag for transport.

"Dr. Brown how far are you?" She enquired eager to get back to the shuttle.

"Almost done. Just waiting on Julia and Adam."

Ronon kept a sharp eye out around the camp a little disappointed for not running into the lizard while it was still alive but knew to be prepared in the event that the lizard had a mate.

Leah entered the tent where Julia and Adam were. They were laughing about something but quickly went quiet when they saw Leah.

"How far are you?" Leah asked pretending not to have noticed the odd behaviour.

"All done." Adam said and reached for his backpack containing his computer and equipment. Julia also picked up a bag full of science equipment and agreed that they were ready to leave.

The walk back to the jumpers was quiet except for Julia and Adam who kept snickering in the back. Turner took point again and Ronon kept a fair distance at the back behind them being overly cautious constantly looking at the trees. Leah wanted very much to join her friends and share in the conversation but she had a duty to protect them and had to focus.

They reached the jumpers and there was no sign of the others yet. She instructed them to load the equipment into Sheppard's jumper while she made sure the other jumper was undamaged and able to fly. Ronon stood guard and waited as patiently as he could.

Twenty-five minutes passed and there was still no sign of Sheppard or the others. Turner stood in the clearing and opened a radio channel.

"Sheppard come in." She tried but got no response. "Sheppard this is Turner do you copy?"

Ronon gave her an unworried look. "They're probably still in the cave."

Leah checked her watch and became concerned. "But it is ten minutes past check in. Something's wrong."

"I'm sure it's nothing." Ronon tried to convince her and himself but neither were convinced.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee and Dr. Julia West.


	6. Chapter 6

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter ****6 – Trouble**

Turner instructed Dr. Brown, West and Lee to seal themselves in the jumper while Ronon and her went to go find the others. They protested being left defenceless but knew they would be safe inside the jumper. They were also instructed to contact Atlantis if Turner and the others did not return in one hour.

Armed with her automatic rifle, a stunner and Ronon with his blaster pistol, they wasted no time and moved quickly to the cave entrance co-ordinates. It took them only a few minutes to reach the cave. Instinctively they secured the area and searched for clues.

"I'm going in." Turner announced.

"Wait!" Ronon shouted and ran after her into the cave.

They didn't get very far and stopped dead at a cave-in.

"Sheppard!" Leah called out soon followed by Ronon's gruff voice.

"Sheppard!"

There was no response so Turner tried the radio again but it too was a waste of time. Just then a high pitched screech came from outside. They rushed out of the cave entrance only to be met by two lizard-like creatures.

Ronon fired first and the one creature reared up and anger. Turner followed suit and was second to leave the safety of the cave. As she stepped out in the open something grabbed her on her waist coat from behind and yanked her up and over the opening.

"Ro-non!" Leah yelled as she was dragged off. "Ahhhhhhhh!"

He turned to help her but had his own two problems to deal with and the quicker he dealt with them the quicker he could get to help Turner. Ronon fired at the wounded lizard again this time doing serious damage to the creature causing it to flea in agony. The second lizard spun around and hit Ronon with his tail swiping him off his feet. He had to roll to avoid the tail thrash down upon him in a swift second attack but managed just fine and got a footing firing at the creature.

Meanwhile Turner got dragged back over the low-rise cave. Facing away from the lizard, she could not get a clear shot. Automatic fire came streaming through the air from the back. Sheppard approached unrelentingly firing at the lizard from behind catching it off guard. So much so that the creature did not stand a chance and fell limp to the ground.

Leah was pinned unable to stand up. Sheppard raced to her side but could not free her. Her waist coat straps where tangled in the creature's claw. He tried to help her unclip the restraints but in the panic they were not getting very far. John grabbed his multi purpose knife and began cutting the straps.

Out of the blue, another tail swatted him on the side sending him a few meters down uneven and rocky terrain.

"John!" She shouted and reached for the knife he dropped. She could barely reach it but was determined to get liberated from her restraints. Leah grabbed the knife and cut the last strap free wriggling out of the grapple.

She unclipped her rifle and quickly ran after John only so witness him being dragged off by a lizard creature that seemed slightly larger than the others. She hesitated to shoot in fear of hitting Sheppard but then managed to focus and aim switching her weapon to single ammo fire—after all she still held a high score on sharp shooting back at the academy.

All it took was one clean bullet to the head and the monster fell limp. Once it hit the floor, Ronon came running in, blaster at the ready. John groaned and slowly got to his knees as Leah rushed to his side.

"Nice shot." He complimented.

"Where're the others?" Ronon asked pointing his weapon in every direction he heard the slightest noise emanate from.

Sheppard pointed further back trying to catch his breath. "Back there."

Leah knelt in front of John and inspected his face. He had several small cuts and scraps but otherwise seem to be alright. Less concerned for himself and more concerned for her, he held Leah on the arms and looked for any signs of injury while Ronon ran off to find the others.

"Are you okay?" He asked as their eyes met awkwardly.

There was a slight pause as John realised that his hands on her arms might seem inappropriate.

"I'm fine." She muttered.

He removed his hands and stood up helping Leah to her feet.

"Let's find get the others and get out of here."

They ran after Ronon who had found McKay and Lt. Smith. Wasting no time and not wanting to hang around for more of the lizard creatures, they scuttled back to the jumpers.

Minutes later they arrived in the clearing without incident. Sheppard instructed Turner to pilot the second shuttle back. Smith, West and Lee offered to accompany her.

They flew back to Atlantis once again in silence.

* * *

After arriving back, everyone was sent to the infirmary for the all clear. The doctors were cleared having no sign of injury. Even McKay who seemed to be bruised only landed up having some dirt on him from the cave.

Ronon stubbornly partook in his examination and was also cleared. Dr. Keller insisted Sheppard have a scan just to be very sure that there was no internal injury as she was worried about him from his previous injury already.

The scan turned up negative and she called a nurse to patch up his scraps and cuts. Leah didn't need any patching up but required an injection to help with her severe bruising agitated by being dragged on the ground. Luckily her uniform gave her some protection again cuts and scraps but not against the bumps.

She looked at both Sheppard and Turner who sat on opposite beds and shook her head.

"This is becoming a habit you two. If I had known you'd get yourself into this mess I would not have cleared you for active duty. That said. You're both grounded till I am happy with your recoveries. Check in with me daily. Until then, enjoy the time off." She smiled pleased with asserting her authority but quickly left the room before they could complain.

Sheppard shrugged at Turner. "So, you play golf?" He asked.

She looked at him strangely and shook her head.

"Pity." He continued. "Hard to find a good partner out here."

Leah laughed. "Maybe I'll give it try someday, when it doesn't hurt to move."

They both smiled in agreement.

"Oh well, got a report to fill out." Leah admitted knowing that there was no point in delaying. "Which makes we wonder, what happened with you guys back at the cave?"

Sheppard's upper lip twisted and he contemplated whether he should tell her or leave her in suspense. She would read his report eventually, that's when he decided to get around to writing it out, of course.

"Well," he began, "we found a nest of eggs which would probably explain the sudden increase in lizard activity." Sheppard got off from the bed and began walking out. "You coming? I could really use a cup of coffee."

Leah gently stood up and followed him out. All the over exertion had finally caught up with her, that coupled with lack of sleep, worry and a patchwork of bruises, all took its toll.

"Actually I'm just going to crash. Guess I'll just wait to read your report."

He shrugged and watched her walk off. She looked like she was finding it hard to walk which seemed normal considering what she's been through.

The next day late in the afternoon Sheppard arrived in Carter's office to hand in his report.

"Afternoon John. You look terrible."

"Thanks, I think."

He placed his report on the table and Carter smiled. "This is a surprise, usually you're the last one to hand in your report."

"What, I'm not last? There goes my perfect record. Who do I have to thank for this."

"Turner actually which is odd seeing as she is usually the first these days to hand in reports."

"Oh, how is she doing? She didn't look to great yesterday." He enquired.

Samantha looked concerned. "Well, I don't know actually. I have not seen her since you got back from the mainland."

Now Sheppard looked concerned. "Me neither."

"I'm sure she's fine. Probably spending some time with her friends or something." Carter tried to reassure herself.

"I guess so, still, maybe I should go check on her."

Carter agreed as it would give her peace of mind. She would go herself but Rodney insisted she go down to his office and discuss his findings regarding the symbols he managed to note down from the cave ruins.

They walked out together and parted ways from the main corridor, Sheppard headed to the personnel quarters and Carter to the labs.

He arrived outside Leah's door and gave a polite knock. He knocked at least three times before deciding she was not there. Still not satisfied, he headed to the science lab in search of Dr. West, Leah's friend. Much to his luck, she was there helping Dr. Brown with some labs.

"Colonel." She greeted with a smile.

"Aren't we cheerful today." He replied jokingly and nodded to Dr. Brown in greeting.

"We made some amazing headway today, yes I am very happy."

"Have you been here all day then?" He enquired.

"Yes actually. Luckily Dr. Brown brought sandwiches or I'd have forgotten to eat lunch."

Sheppard shook his head and could not understand how scientists brains worked and then was thankful for that fact.

"So you haven't seen Leah today?" He continued with his questioning.

"Um, no sorry."

"Humph. I'll go ask Lee. Thanks. Um, have fun with your plant thing."

He turned to leave when Julia stopped him. "Actually, Adam was here earlier also looking for her. So I doubt he's seen her either. But you can ask I guess."

"Thanks." He said and left the lab. Something was not right, he could feel it.

He headed back to Turner's quarters and knocked on the door again. Still no reply. He contemplated if his next action would be deemed an invasion of privacy but then quickly dismissed his worries and used his security clearance to override the door's locking mechanism causing it to open.

The room was small similar to his own. He immediately spotted Leah curled up on the bed and walk to her side softly caller her name not to startle her.

She did not respond.

He shook her gently and she would not wake. No, something was definitely wrong. Instinct and worry took over any rational thought. He scooped her up into his arms and rushed her to the infirmary. He wanted to call ahead but had no hands free to activate his comm, so moving quickly was his only option.

He got there in less than a minute and called out for Dr. Keller. She rushed to his aid and instructed him to place her on the scanner table. Before she ran the scan she checked basic vitals and realised something was wrong. Symptoms showed elevated blood pressure and her pupils indicated that she was unconscious.

"She wouldn't wake." He pointed out. "I thought you checked her out." He accused trying to find reason somewhere.

"I did." Keller defended. "But she seemed fine, just a few bruises, I didn't feel the need to run a scan at the time."

She quickly positioned the scanner and activated it watching the screen closely. Her eyes got wide as the results poured in. She called a nurse and ordered her to call Carter, get an IV and injection of some kind. Sheppard could not follow the medical terms but knew what ever it was, it was bad.

She got the nurse to install the IV while she gave Turner the shot and then check her vitals again. They seemed to be stabilising her so she pulled Sheppard aside.

"I am so sorry."

"Spit it out doc." He ordered getting impatient not knowing what was going on.

"You are lucky you found her when you did or this could have been a lot worse."

"Doc…" He pushed growing even more inpatient with her lack of important facts.

"She has inflammation on her spine and will need surgery to relieve the pressure. We've stabilised her and need to prep her immediately. I will keep her under close observation. There is nothing more you can do. I can call you when we're done?" She offered and he agreed. She then returned to Leah's side and continued to monitor her vitals.

Carter arrived a little out of breath.

"John? What happened?"

He explained as best he could and realised Carter was angry with him. She had every right to be and he would take full responsibility for this. She shoved past him and rushed to Leah's side taking her hand in hers and stroking her forehead with her other hand.

Carter blamed herself for letting Leah join Sheppard's team. Had she stayed under Sam's guidance this would not have happened. Sure, she would have been miserable, learnt very little, but she would be safe. They only had a several days left before they were going to be shipped back to the SGC. All she had to do was keep her safe till then.

John left the infirmary and headed for the nearest balcony. He needed to clear his mind and some cool fresh air would hopefully do the trick. News travelled fast and shortly, Ronon was out on the balcony as well.

"I heard what happened." He confessed. "Sorry man, things happen. Nothing you could have done about it."

Sheppard shrugged. "I guess your right. Still, I feel somewhat responsible."

Ronon patted him on the shoulder. "Let it go man. It will only eat you up inside. We take risks all the time. You cannot hold yourself accountable for all the bad things that happen."

John could not respond and just stood there with his friend staring out over the ocean.

* * *

** Disclaimer: **_Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee and Dr. Julia West._


	7. Chapter 7

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter ****7 – Recovery**

The surgery took two hours but Dr. Keller would not allow any visitors until the next morning, not even Carter. All they could do was wait and hope for the best.

John could not sleep that night and found his way onto an open balcony with his golf bag in tow. He set up and began swinging a few shots. This helped him focus and think more on his swing and less on his troubles.

After about twenty minutes he just stopped, walked to a wall and slid down to a crouch, golf stick still in hand. He began replaying events to try and determine if this was in anyway avoidable. He kept coming back to the same conclusion. Had he not confronted Carter, Leah would still be grounded under her guidance and would not have gone in the field.

However, things would have played out as they did eventually, there was no denying that Leah Turner would not sit still for long. This fact did not help much, he still felt responsible.

Carter also could not sleep and tried to use her authority to see Turner but Dr. Keller would have none of it. In the infirmary, she was the boss. She offered Carter some meds to help her sleep but she refused. Instead, Sam headed for the mess hall and decided to drown her worries with food.

When she arrived Adam and Julia were already there sitting in silence playing with their deserts. Carter helped herself to a desert as well and walked over to their table. They stood up unsure how to act in a social environment with their commanding officer but she quickly told them to sit down and relax.

"Also couldn't sleep?" Carter asked the nervous rookies trying to strike up a conversation.

Julia shook her head and continued to play with her desert having no appetite to finish it.

"Heard anything more?" Adam asked hoping that the commander of Atlantis would at least have privy to things they could not regarding Leah's condition, that and the fact that Leah and Carter where close.

"No sorry."

They sat there for at least an hour saying very little until one of them stood up and decided to try and get some sleep. The others followed and thought the same.

The next morning like clockwork, both Sheppard and Carter came around opposite corners heading for the infirmary.

"John."

"Colonel."

"Heading to see Turner?" She asked knowing the answer.

"Yes, you as well?" He replied out of politeness more than any thing.

They walked together keeping to their own thoughts. Shortly they arrived and were met by Dr. Keller who wanted to give them an update before they went to go see Leah.

"The operation was a success and with a lot of rest, time and a little rehabilitation, she should be able to return to duty in the future. For now I am afraid she's grounded until further notice. I am sorry."

"Can we see her?" Carter asked impatiently with Sheppard just as eager.

"Yes but only one at a time. She's still under pain medication so she might not seem herself."

She stepped aside allowing one of them to pass. Carter did not even look at Sheppard and made her way to Leah's bedside. He stood there in acceptance and waited for his turn, that's if Carter would even allow him to she Turner after what happened.

"Leah? It's Sam." She spoke softly while stoking Leah's forehead.

Leah stirred and slowly came too. She looked at Sam and managed a smile.

"I hope you brought the biscuits." She said with a weak voice.

Carter laughed and promised that next time she would definitely bring them. Just then there was a voice over Carter's earpiece. She was needed elsewhere and had to go.

"I'm sorry, I will come see you later. Just rest okay."

She left Leah's side and as she walked out she noticed that Sheppard was also leaving. He probably thought that he was unwelcomed.

"John?" She began. "I am sure she would like to see you."

She passed him and gave him a brief smile then headed off talking on her comm.-link. He stood for a minute unsure of what to do. Regardless, he would very much like to see Leah so he turned around and walked over to her bed.

"Hey you." Leah greeted.

"Hey." Beyond that he did not know where to start and Leah could not focus too well to think of anything clear to say.

He just stood there by her side a moment and looked at her. She had a drip attached to her arm and was lying on her side as it was too painful to sleep on her back. She looked over-tired with dark circles under her eyes and her complexion was the palest he's ever seen it. She gave the impression of being very frail and breakable.

"I'm sorry." He finally managed.

Leah looked at him concerned. "For what?"

He opened his mouth to speak but could not form the words.

"Please tell me that you don't blame yourself for this. This is so not your fault. Didn't the doctor tell you?"

Sheppard looked confused. "Tell me what?"

Leah reached for his hand and he allowed her to take it feeling a little uncomfortable about it but she seemed to need to hold it.

"This is all due to a previous injury I got a while back. Something was bound to trigger it off eventually. I'm just sorry it happened now, here of all places." She admitted and looked away saddened.

This helped John overcome some of his guilt. He might not have been directly responsible, but he still played a part and all things that led up to this and so could not excuse himself all together.

Her eyes began to drift close and she quickly fluttered them open trying to stay awake.

"Rest now. We can talk later." He said as she closed her eyes once more.

After about a minute and leaned in and lightly pecked her forehead then left the room.

Later that day he made a point to go see Carter who was luckily in her office at the time. She was glad he came as she too wanted to speak with him but had been too busy until then to do so.

"John, I am glad you're here. I just wanted to say that I don't blame you for any of this. Leah was my responsibility not yours. I let her down."

Sheppard got slightly upset and stood as close to her desk on the opposite side as he could and gazed in eyes.

"Look, wait a minute. We are both to blame on some level but at the end of the day there was nothing we could have done to avoid this. Frankly, we probably would not have done anything differently if we had to do it over. So let's just accept it and focus on what to do about it."

Carter was shocked at John's outburst but she has had worse so allowed it. This also confirmed her suspicions that there was some connection between John and Leah that was personal. She also knew that there was nothing she could do to change that. Whatever bond they have, has now formed and it was long past 'too late' to prevent it.

"Alright then. I just got an update from the SGC, they want Leah home as soon as she is well enough to be moved. They can do more for her there than we can do here. I will make sure she gets the best care but I guess it's up to her if she wants to return to active duty or not."

Sheppard looked disappointed and sad to hear that Leah was leaving so soon. She barely just got there. Carter shared his thoughts and felt bad for the poor girl. Sam had noticed that Leah was very happy here after all and it had been the happiest she had ever seen her. Now, it was being taken away.

Back in the infirmary Adam and Julia had gone to visit Leah. Dr. Keller allowed both of them to see her together if they promised to keep it short. Adam was acting completely different which was a nice change for Leah. Since they arrive he's been acting strangely and although Leah thought she knew what it was about, she was glad he was back to his old self.

They spoke about the old days and tried to keep Leah focused on remembering the good things of the past but that only aided in making her worry about her future. It was not long before the nurse had to ask them to leave. Before leaving, they promised to have lunch together in the mess hall when she was released. They all obviously did not know that Leah would not be staying.

About an hour later Carter came to visit. She was glad to see Leah trying to eat something so she sat with her for a while encouraging her to finish her food.

"There's something you're not telling me Sam." Leah noted concerned.

Carter shifted uneasily. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this Leah, but the SGC is sending you home tomorrow. They feel your recovery will be better orientated back with them. You know how it is."

Leah shook her head and cringed, not from the pain, but from her disbelief. "No!"

"I'm sorry there is nothing I can do."

Leah threw down her spoon and made a fist. "I am sure you could do something if you tried. But you are not going to try are you?"

"I'm sorry, it's better this way."

"No, please." Leah begged tears beginning to form. "Just get me a few more days, I beg you."

Carter stood up and began pacing deep in thought.

"Please." She asked one last time knowing that there was nothing more she could say.

Carter sat on the rim of Leah's bed and took her hand. "You know it doesn't work like that." She frowned and took a deep breath. "But, I will see if there is anything I can do."

Leah's face lit up with hope and if she could reach over and hug Carter she would have.

"Thank you Sam. I know you will do your best. You always do."

"Don't get your hopes up. I can't promise anything."

"You already have. You've promised to try."

"I guess I have." Sam said as she stood up preparing to leave. She gave Leah and light hug and set off back to her duties.

The next morning Leah awoke to find Carter smiling at her.

"Morning." Carter greeted. "How are you feeling today?"

Leah pretended to be in pain in a very sarcastic manner. "Oh, aw, terrible, so much pain. I guess I am too far gone to be moved. You'll just have to ship me back another day."

Sam laughed and applauded her effort. "Shame that's such a pity. I convinced Stargate Command to let you stay an extra day or two but if you are that bad, I guess you'll be spending them in the infirmary. Such a waste." She teased.

"You mean it?" Leah enquired unsure if Sam was playing along with the joke or if she was being serious.

"No, actually I am lying."

Leah's face dropped to the floor like a child who just had her ice-cream ripped from her hands.

"They are not letting you stay a day or two extra." Carter clarified. "They are letting you stay out the remainder of your sentence here with us."

Words could not contain the excitement. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouyouarethebestever!" She exploded then had to catch her breath and be reminded not to move around so much. "I promise I will work hard and do any task you give me even if it's making you coffee every morning. Heck, I'll make the entire base coffee every morning!"

Carter placed her hand on Leah's shoulder and this helped calm her down. "Leah, the only thing I want from you, is for you to take it easy and get better. You deserve to be out in the field exploring new worlds, discovering the wonders of the universe and the only way you will be able to do that is to get well again. Dr. Keller will assist you in every aspect of your recovery."

Leah smiled and put her head down on the pillow and closed her eyes.

"Oh fine be that way." Carter joked.

Leah opened one eye and whispered. "If I am going to get well, I better get some rest, starting now."

Carter nodded. "You're right. I guess I'll just leave these here for you then." She said and took the opened bag of biscuits she's been hiding behind her back all this time and placed it on the night stand.

Both Leah's eyes shot open. "Well maybe I can get some rest later."

They both laughed and continued to talk while enjoying their creamy chocolate chip cookies.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** _Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee and Dr. Julia West._


	8. Chapter 8

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter ****8 – Time Heals All Wounds**

Later that day Leah was allowed to leave the infirmary and got set up in her quarters. She was given strict instructions to stay in her quarters and rest for another day or two before Dr. Keller would be happy allowing her to wonder around the city. Adam and Julia spent a lot of their free time visiting which was not much but Leah enjoyed every moment of it even the awkward quiet times.

Adam and Leah had still not gotten a chance to talk about past misunderstanding and although things seemed fine between them, there was still some residual emotion that needed to be dealt with.

Carter only managed to pop-in once as things around the city were suddenly becoming busy which might be the reason why Sheppard has not been to see Leah since she moved back into her room. Carter also explained to Leah that she had Dr. Keller to thank as well. Dr. Keller had helped convinced them to allow her to stay in Atlantis. Between Carter's reasoning and Dr. Keller's good medical jargon, they were easily confused to the point where they just agreed.

Leah tried her best to rest telling herself the more she rests the faster she will heal. In her years of service, she had gotten many injuries and she knew what to do to make a speedy recovery.

That afternoon Adam knocked at her door baring gifts. She told him to come in and had kept her door unlocked so that she would not have to get up every time a visitor arrived.

"Hey Leah. How are you feeling?" He enquired.

"As well as can be expected." She replied trying to keep up a brave face. She did so very well among strangers but with her friends and those she was close with, she would allow herself to let her guard down a bit. "Actually a little sore and frustrated. But hey, it will pass." She smiled but the pain and discomfort was evident in her face.

Adam held out his hands and placed a small box on her bed then pulled up the only chair in the room and sat beside her.

"Oh, what's this?"

"Open it and see."

She slowly opened the box and peeked inside. Unable to make the shape out completely she removed the object from the box. It was a tiny pot plant with a single flower.

"Adam, where'd you get this?"

"From the main land when we were last there. Don't worry, I cleared it with Julia and Dr. Brown and it's all safe and harmless. When I saw it I thought of you."

Leah reached over and placed the small pot plant on her bedside cabinet.

"Thanks Adam, that so sweat. Honestly though, I don't see how this little plant reminds you of me in any way."

Adam leaned in and pointed at the plant as if noting labels on a science diagram.

"Well this is the pot that holds its roots keeping it grounded and nourished. You are very grounded and take care of yourself. And this is the stem. Tall, proud and perfect in design." He blushed knowing he already made the comparison then quickly cleared his throat and continued. "Then there's the flower. The most beautiful thing I have every seen. Able to withstand even the harshest of storms. As delicate as the flower seems, it is tougher than it looks."

Leah smiled and became worried. She knew Adam had a crush on her, he's had it since they met, and she thought she made it clear that she was not interested but he was determined and hopeful.

"Look, Adam. I'm sorry if I did anything to upset you. I am not sure what I did but I am sorry."

Adam knew she was referring to past actions. He shamefully looked away and frowned. "No I'm sorry. I let jealously get the better of me. I was stupid and acted irrationally."

"Jealously?" She enquired oblivious as to what Adam was on about.

"Yeah, it's nothing."

"No tell me." She asked wanting to get it out in the open.

"You and Sheppard of course. But it's alright now. I understand and I am a patient man." He smiled.

As if a light bulb went off in her head she realised that all this time he was jealous of Sheppard and to top it all off, he was still confident that he had a chance. Perhaps when their time in Atlantis was over he thought he might get Leah to change how she feels about him.

Leah began to get upset and wanted to say something, the same something she always told him but before she could utter a word, Adam stood up, pecked her on the forehead and left.

She sat in her bed telling herself to calm down. Adam was only setting himself up for more disappointment. She could not help that she did not have feelings for him the way he had for her and if he needed to believe that Sheppard was a threat, then Leah was going to let him believe that. It meant Adam would give her space for now and that's what she needed, space.

The next morning Dr. Keller came to check up on Leah. She did her exam and was pleased that her recovery was moving alone nicely.

"So far everything looks good. I take it you've been getting lots of rest as ordered?"

"Yes Ma'am." She smiled.

"Please, don't call me ma'am, you make me feel old." Dr, Keller protested and they both laughed.

"Alright, one more day of bed rest and you should be fine to walk around a bit tomorrow."

She began packing up her medical equipment and there was a knock on the door. It was Carter.

"Dr. Keller." She greeted. "How is our patient today?"

"Doing really well as per doctor's orders. At this rate we can begin physiotherapy in no time."

Carter smiled at the good news and bid the doctor farewell as she left.

"Cute flower." Carter noted and gave Leah a suspicious glance.

"It's from Adam and he assures me it's safe and non-threatening. He cleared it with Dr. Brown."

Carter smiled as if relieved that the gift was from Adam and not somebody else, however, Leah did not notice Sam's relief.

"So what's news?" Leah asked hoping to get some inside scoops to pass the time.

"Nothing much." Carter began and sat down on the chair.

"Boy your life must be boring. Come on Sam, give me something, anything. What's on your schedule today then?"

Carter laughed and understood how frustrated Leah must be not being able to go out or be part of some adventure.

"Alright, let's see. I have several reports to read this morning then I am expecting check-in call from John and his team in about an hour. They went to get supplies from one of our alliances. We trade with them periodically. And then I am probably going to read some more reports and write a report of my own. See, nothing much."

"Ha! Sounds fun." Leah joked.

"You can always help me with the reports."

"Well you know, I would, but the doctor has given me strict orders to stay in bed." She smiled.

"Oh of course. We want you to get better so you do just that."

Carter stood up and could tell Leah was sad to see her leave so soon. She knew Carter had a lot more to do than she let on and let her leave without feeling too guilty.

Between resting and people visiting, the day passed quickly. Leah was relieved to hear that Sheppard was on a mission and not avoiding her. The next morning the doctor came and went giving Leah the all clear to begin walking about with the aid of a walking stick. She wasted no time and began doing rounds.

People were glad to see her up and about. If they did not know her or have never met her, they certainly knew who she was now. News of her surgery and recover on Atlantis spread faster than wildfire. People who she never knew were greeting her by name and being overly friendly. It was unnerving at first, but after a while she just smiled and nodded.

One time she wondered past the control room on her rounds and arrived during another scheduled check-in from Sheppard and his team. She remained out of sight and listened in.

"They want us to stay until the festival is over. Apparently they would consider it an insult if we left before then. And, they won't trade until after the festival. So I guess we're stuck here another day or so."

"Alright John. Thanks." Carter replied and cut transmission.

Leah stepped out from her hiding spot and greeted Carter. They walked to her office and Leah got a chance to sit for a moment.

"Don't overdo it Leah. I hope you are still resting."

"Yes, I am taking it slowly and I rest every other possible second."

They continued to talk for a bit until Carter got called away. She told Leah that she could sit in the office for a while if she wanted. Sitting was not something Leah wanted to do. It had been five days sine her operation and tomorrow would be her first day of physiotherapy. She was eager to begin and get rid of the walking aid. She felt strong enough to walk without it but Dr. Keller was being overcautious and Leah did not want to push her luck.

The next day arrived, eventually. Leah met with Dr. Keller and the physiotherapist in the training room. After a brief examination and confirmation that they could begin the exercises, Dr. Keller left an allowed them to work in peace. Leah met with the therapist twice a day with Dr. Keller's approval and her rate of rehabilitation was above average.

By the second day of physiotherapy, the doctor predicted that they only required one more day and then she would be fit to return to basic duty. That meant strictly staying on the base and doing nothing strenuous. Dr. Keller was pleased to see the swelling was down and the bruising almost all gone. The minimal non-evasive surgery was minor yet both Dr. Keller and Col. Carter wanted to be over cautious and allow sufficient time to heal. After all, Turner would need to be in peek condition if she were to return to active duty.

After her last session with the therapist, Leah headed back to her room. On the way she ran into Sheppard.

"Oh, hey." He greeted casually.

"Hi there, when did you get back?"

"This morning. I meant to come see you." He offered awkwardly creating silence between them.

They both stood there unsure of what to say. Leah was still not convinced that Sheppard was avoiding her.

"See you later?" Sheppard asked out of politeness.

Leah nodded and they continued on their separate ways. She now definitely believed that he was in deed avoiding her and this saddened her. Sheppard cursed himself as he rounded the corner for not dealing with the situation better. He has never been good with feelings and emotional situations and avoided them as much as possible.

Sheppard was not just avoiding Leah from the guilt he felt since her accident, there was something brewing inside him and it scared him. He was developing feelings for this girl and felt that the more he could avoid her, the less he would feel and soon she would be gone then all would be back to normal. He already cared for her more than he should and that is where it had to end.

That night Sheppard did not show and Leah struggled to get any sleep. She knew he would probably not turn up and could not understand why this bothered her so much but it did. Now that she was agitated everything she worried about came to the surface.

She was tired of sitting around feeling useless. She knew as well as Dr. Keller and Carter that she was practically fully recovered. There were no stitches only bruising and she did her research regarding the procedure. She was convinced that she would be fine now.

Turner got up and changed into her training outfit. It must have been just after midnight when she stormed off to the gym room and began warm ups. At first her back felt stiff but soon it loosened and she felt ready to return to her own training programme.

The next morning, nine days after surgery, Dr. Keller signed Turner off. The doctor was happy with recovery and felt she was well enough to handle small tasks but still insisted that she be grounded and thus not be allowed on any off world missions. The new recruits have been in Atlantis for seventeen days already and it marked the halfway point of their program. Turner was not going to let this slight setback keep her from learning all she could.

She spent the next few days working hard to get back into top physical condition and when allowed, she would get some training from Sheppard, Ronon and other personnel. Things between Turner and Sheppard remained professional and left the past in the past. Adam still believed he was patiently waiting for their tour on Atlantis to be over so that he could get Leah back all to himself.

Julia kept busy drowned in projects and experiments but still met with her friends everyday for lunch and shared her exciting discoveries—much to their boredom.

Little did any of them know that there was something in store for them before their time with Atlantis was up.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** _Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee and Dr. Julia West._


	9. Chapter 9

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter ****9 – Final Mission Part 1**

It was the twenty seventh day of their stay in Atlantis when Colonel Carter called Turner, Dr. Lee and Dr. West to the briefing room one morning. Since her accident and recovery, Turner had not been allowed off base and she came to accept that. Seeing Adam and Julia in the briefing room when she arrived made her worry that they were being shipped back to the SGC sooner than expected.

"Please, have a seat." Carter instructed and handed them all a thin file. "As you know many of our teams are currently off world at the moment and we received a communication from one of our trade alliances. You three are the best we have available to deal with this situation."

Julia's eyes grew large with anxiety, she glanced at Adam who had a blank expression on his face and then they both looked at Leah who was smiling from ear to ear.

"Your mission is outlined in the file and you leave in one hour. Dismissed." Carter ordered. Turner stood up and began heading out but Julia and Adam just sat there stunned and unprepared. "Well, what are you waiting for!" Carter barked at them. That was enough to get them out of their seats and quickly following Turner.

"Leah! Wait up." Julia called with Adam hot on her heels. "Are they seriously sending us out on a mission?"

"Seems so." Leah gleamed in excitement. She was so ready for this.

"But, why send me? I'm no good out in the field!" Julia complained. Turner stopped abruptly causing Julia to stop as well leading Adam to bump into her.

Leah flipped open her file and briefly scanned through it. "Says here we need an expert in fungal biology, that's you Julia. Unless you can teach me everything you know about fungus in the next," she paused looking at her watch, "fifty-eight minutes?"

Julia rolled her eyes and knew she just had to grin and bare it. Adam looked at his file and sighed. He also knew not to argue. Adam was glad in a way that it was just them going and not Sheppard as well. That way he could show Leah just how good he was in the field. Granted, he did not have much field experience but he intended to impress her non-the-less.

"You better get ready. Meet me in the locker room in forty minutes, I want to go over some of the equipment before we leave." Tuner ordered and it was something Julia and Adam accepted. She was after all, their ranking officer and it was not the first time they had to take orders from her. Thus far they had done well in training exercises and some missions and managed to keep their personal friendships separate from the task at hand—for the most part in any case.

Thirty eight minutes later Adam arrived in the locker room. Packed and ready to go.

"Always on time Adam." Leah commented and Adam took it as a compliment. They waited quietly for another ten minutes before Julia arrived in a huff with her large back pack and another bag.

"I don't think you will be needing all that Julia. It's just a one day trip." Leah pointed out. "Did you even read the file?" She asked knowing Julia all to well.

"Well, no, there was no time—I had to pack!" Julia dropped the bags and sat on the nearest bench then opened her file for the first time. "See, I'm reading it now, besides, you never know, always be prepared."

Both Adam and Leah rolled their eyes. It was a little late to read it now. Julia always got her priorities a little backwards but she had friends that helped her and had an uncanny knack for getting by.

"No time Julia, we'll catch you up on route. Besides, you've already packed." She smiled and grabbed her survival vest which came standard with every uniform. She put it on and briefly instructed them on the vest basics. Leah knew they already had that training but also knew how easily things got forgotten. Adam paid too much attention and Julia looked like she was following but not quite letting it sink in. It was Leah's job to make sure her team was prepared for anything and the fact that she had a suspicion that this was a training exercise. After all, they were entrusting a jumper to the new recruits and Leah figured they would not do so unless they were being monitored.

She then ran over the weaponry in the event that there was a problem and they needed to use their side arms. Julia protested even carrying a side arm even though she has had training but Leah won the argument after painting out some colourful situations. Julia disliked violence however she regarded her life more. With barely a minute to spare Turner checked all the equipment, gear and then hurried her team to the jumper bay.

It got even more interesting when a Lieutenant Smithy McTaggard met them in the hanger bay, bag in tow. Leah had seen him before but did not really know him.

"Lt. Turner." He greeted. "I've been assigned to accompany you. I took the liberty of prepping the jumper."

Leah smiled, this only helped fuel her suspicions. Of course they would need someone to spy on them and report back. "Welcome and thanks. Shall we?" She indicated for the others to get on board while she signed of on the jumper. After a quick systems check and pre-flight, she opened a channel to command where Carter was waiting for them.

"Command, this is Turner ready for departure."

"Permission granted, gate has been dialled and good luck." Carter responded.

The jumper glided onto the command deck floor and made a swift exit through the gate.

Sheppard stepped out from the shadows and smiled at Carter. "Do you think they will be okay?" He asked slightly concerned due to the fact that instead of spending her time training in the field, Leah spent it in recovery.

"Stick to the plan John. They were lucky the IOA still agreed to this or we would have had to send them home without completing their training."

John shrugged and Carter placed her hand on his shoulder. "I have the utmost confidence in Leah. They will do fine."

The jumper left the gate and Leah activated the ship's cloak. They were instructed to keep a low profile as the world consisted of many villages and some were afraid of technology. It would be a ten minute flight by jumper to reach the village they were sent to assist.

"Smithy, care to go over he plan with us so that we know we are all on the same page." Leah asked knowing this would help Julia without alerting the spy to the fact that Julia did not read the mission outline.

"Sure. At oh-nine-hundred this morning we were tasked with aiding the village of Thu'tang. Some of their farmers have been experiencing abnormal symptoms and they have narrowed it down to a strange fungus that is growing in the northern regions. Dr. West is to procure a sample and run any necessary tests before returning the sample to Atlantis for further study if needed. The rest of us are here to support Dr. West in her task."

"Thank you Smithy. Might I say you hardly have an accent." Leah noted that he had the Scottish flag arm badge but spoke rather good English.

"I decided to get rid of the accent a while back. People had trouble understanding me. I also studied in the states for a bit."

Adam sat quietly pondering how he was going to impress Leah. There wasn't much for him to do on this mission so he had to get creative if he planned to do anything amazing. At the moment she seemed more interested in Smithy McTaggard than anything else.

Julia sat quietly as well, she was not good in small spaces and now that she knew exactly what the mission entailed, she was beginning to panic. The entire outing was centred on her job and how well she could perform it. To top it off she was not sure she brought the right equipment and cursed herself for not read the file!

A few minutes later Leah landed the jumper in a clearing only some miles walk from the village. It was already afternoon on that planet and Leah wanted to move fast and get as much daylight in as possible. She wasted no time rounding up the crew and headed out after securing the jumper and leaving it cloaked.

Leah insisted that Julia carry her own bags and wanted to make a point but it was not long before Adam took one of the bags and helped her out. He may only be a scientist but Adam took good care of himself and was rather fit from studying martial arts since childhood.

Smithy seemed too relaxed for Leah's liking which once again only aided in her idea that this was a simple training mission. They were walking on a thin path surrounded by large trees on an alien planet and in unknown territory. Smithy took the rear and at the very least he should be on alert but instead, he was mindless and overly focused on the wrong rear. Thank goodness Julia did not turn around and find him gawking at her behind. Leah did not say anything and decided it would be more fun to tell Julia afterward and see her reaction.

They arrived at the village and were greeted by a few locals who were expecting them. They were immediately shown to the area in question but communication was difficult. The villagers did not want to talk and shied away when possible. One villager lead them to the source of the problem then left them alone.

"A cave, figures." Leah sighed. Last time she was near a cave bad things happened. She took a deep breath and calmed her nerves then proceeded forward with flash light in hand and instructed the group to don their gas masks. She insisted they bring them along for safety just in cased the fungus was real and dangerous. Command did not feel they needed containment suits which was another point to add to Leah's list.

Adam followed taking Julia's hand and helped her along the slippery terrain. Smithy took the rear again and aided with his own flash light. Luckily they did not have to venture in too deep before they came across some fungus which matched the description in the file.

Leah instructed Smithy to stay and help while she planned to scout the immediate surrounding area away from the village. Three hours passed before Julia was done with her tests. She was lucky that she packed her general test kit which was sufficient to determine that the fungus for the most part, was non-toxic unless consumed in high doses.

Adam was stumped and could not find a way to impress Leah. All he could do was assist Julia who was more than happy, even smitten to have him help her. Leah had known for a while that Julia had a huge crush on Adam and when she confronted Julia about it she made her promise not to say anything. Adam was typically oblivious to it.

They secured a fresh sample for the scientist to play with back at the city and began packing up. By the time they got outside the cave the sun was beginning to set.

As they crossed through the village Leah noticed that it was eerily quiet. Nobody came to greet them or show them out.

"Odd." Leah noted out loud.

Smithy shrugged and reminded Leah that they were instructed to keep interaction with the locals to a minimum.

They arrived back at the clearing and Leah deactivated the cloak only nothing happened. She tried again and still nothing. Adam thought this would be his shining moment and fiddled with the remote. While he was distracted with the device, Leah walked cautiously forward and gave a loud and deliberate sigh.

"Give it up Adam. The ship is gone."

Both Adam and Julia looked up in horror. Smithy tried to look surprised but Leah saw right through his falseness.

"Are you sure this is where we left it?" Julia panicked.

Leah gave Julia a sarcastic look. "Yes, I am sure." Then rolled her eyes at Smithy. He did not seem very pleased with being here himself and if he had not figured it out yet, Leah was on to him. She checked her watch and noted that they were only scheduled to return in just over an hour. So all they had to do was sit tight until then.

"When we fail to arrive back they will send help." She pointed out.

"But the jumper is gone!" Adam reiterated. "How are we going to explain that!?"

"More importantly," Leah added calmly, "is who took it." As she said this she looked straight as Smithy who quickly avoided eye contact.

"I guess it is back to the village until we figure this out." She ordered much to Julia's protest who was so tired already and just wanted to go back. Mission accomplished, time to go home, it was supposed to be that simple.

Before they headed out Leah gave the area the once over. She mentally noted her findings then proceeded to lead her team back.

By the time they got back to the village it was already dark. They almost did not find the village as there were no fires going or anything. It seemed deserted. Leah knocked on a door but got no response. She proceeded to knock on several doors and nothing until she came across a door that was slightly open.

"Hello?" She said softly and opened the door shining her flash light into the room. At first she could not see anything then suddenly her light passed over a familiar shape. It took her a moment to register and collect her thoughts.

Calmly she left the room and walked back to the others in a hurry turning off her flash light. "Keep quiet and follow me. Turn off your lights."

Julia and Adam did so without hesitation but Smithy shone his light all over the place and laughed. "What, you serious? In case you haven't noticed its pitch black out here. Let's just make camp and wait it out."

Wasting no time and confident in her actions, Leah walked up to Smithy and snatched the light from his hand and switched it off. "When I give an order I expect it to be followed."

She headed away from the village with Adam and Julia close in hand. Smithy soon followed but made it very clear he was not pleased by mumbling under his breath.

Leah lead them back to the cave as best she could then using only one flash light, she lead them into the cave. Once in she sat them down she grabbed Smithy by the collar.

"Time to come clean Smithy. What kind of sick joke is this?"

* * *

**Disclaimer:**_ Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee, Dr. Julia West and now also Lt. Smithy McTaggard._


	10. Chapter 10

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter ****10 – Final Mission Part 2**

Adam and Julia were very confused. They followed Turner's orders but now they were beginning to get worried. Leah held Smithy in a firm grip on his collar and she was implying that he knew something they did not.

"I don't know what you mean." He lied.

She shoved him down to sit and threw her hands up in the air. "Ah! I give up."

Julia stood up and folded her arms around her chest. "Leah, what's going on?" Time to come clean in deed.

"I had my suspicions back when Sam called us into the briefing room and handed us the mission files." Leah began. "There was no way they would actually send us on a real mission and then when Smithy here was waiting for us, I was sure. Then I noticed the little things and it became obvious."

"Well maybe it was obvious to you. Perhaps you wouldn't mind telling us what's going on." Adam took Julia's hand and encouraged her to sit down again. He knew that look of concerned on Leah's face and she probably did not want to frighten Julia.

"Smithy here is a spy. We're on a training mission." She confessed. Smithy looked relieved. "Great she figured it out, now we can go home."

Adam knew there was something more Leah was not telling them. "So they took the jumper and stranded us in this abandoned village as part of the training exercise?"

"Yip, boot prints at the clearing confirm it was our own people who took the jumper. Only, they took it a few hours ago already. Guess they forgot to cover their tracks."

"But?" Adam encouraged.

Turner looked worryingly at Smithy. "But I take it the dead bodies were not part of the exercise, were they."

McTaggard jumped up and looked Leah directly in the eyes. "You're just messing with me now."

"I found two dead villagers in that hut. Both of them, throats slashed. By the look of things it was no more than an hour ago."

Julia cringed in panic and had to stop herself from screaming. She buried her face in Adam's jacket and began praying.

"Are you sure they were dead?" Adam asked hoping Smithy was right and Leah was just messing with them.

"Trust me I checked. No pulse."

Smithy grunted and stormed out the cave. He was tired of baby sitting and tired of being made a fool of. He was going to check and then planned to get Turner into a lot of trouble. He was one of a few people on the base that was jealous of Leah and felt she only got into the program because of her relationship with Carter. Naturally that is how it looked but if anyone really knew Leah, they'd know it was not Carter's influence at all. Turner happened to be good at what she did.

"Hey wait!" Leah shouted trying to keep her voice down but he was already gone. "Men and their egos! No offence Adam."

"None taken, I think, but seriously you're just joking about the bodies right?" He asked knowing Leah well enough to realise that she would not joke around even in a training exercise but was hoping otherwise.

"Sorry Adam, this is no joke. We just have to hope Smithy is careful and that whom ever did this is long gone. I am responsible for the both of you and I won't leave you."

Julia finally looked up out from Adam's jacket sobbing lightly. She really was trying to be brave but she'd had a long stressful day and just could not help herself. "I'm no good in the field." She repeated unable to focus or calm down.

"Look, we due back in less than and hour so they will come looking for us. All we need to do is stay put until they get here."

"How safe do you think we are in here?" Adam asked and rubbed Julia's back in understanding. Deep inside he too was afraid but could not let it show in front of Leah.

"Safe enough. By my estimate the villagers were attacked while we were still in the cave, so if they knew we were here they would have found us by now." She walked over to Julia and removed a candy bar from her jacket pocket. "Here, eat this, it will help and you must be hungry."

Julia took the bar with her shaky hand and had to have Adam help her open the wrapper. Leah tapped Adam on the leg as a sign of thanks then walked a meter or two towards the entrance keeping a look out.

At least ten minutes later there was someone approaching. Leah aimed her rifle and secured herself behind cover. Seconds later Smithy appeared and recklessly ran into the cave.

"Oh my gosh, Smithy! I could have shot you." Leah complained and allowed him to pass as she made sure that he was not followed keeping a watchful eye into the dark surroundings.

Smithy sat down and looked at the blood on his hands. "Dead, all of them." He spoke to himself loud enough for the others to hear.

Julia almost stopped breathing and repeated again, "I'm no good in the field."

Adam reassured her that they were safe and that Leah would take care of them. This seemed to help somewhat as they both trusted Leah with their lives. Smithy however was a stranger and they did not trust him at all.

Leah looked away for a second to check on Julia. She suddenly stood still unable to speak and dropped to the floor. Adam raced to her side but got shoved away by Smithy who ran out into the open and began firing at everything.

The firing stopped and Smithy fell to the ground as well. Adam reached Leah and spotted the dart in her neck and as he looked up, he found that they were not alone.

Back on Atlantis, Carter and Sheppard were anxiously waiting to go and retrieve Leah and her team. As planned they took the recruit's jumper and expected them to make camp until rescue arrived. This was part of the IOA's instruction to see if the new workforce could follow basic protocol.

Sheppard and Ronon prepared a jumper and with the all clear departed for the planet through the Stargate. Carter was relieved to see them leave and knew the entire thing was now over.

As soon as they arrived on the other side, they cloaked and tried to make radio contact. It was very dark already but from a decent height they could see some of the village camp fires.

"That's odd." Sheppard noted.

"Are you sure we're in range?"

Sheppard shrugged and tried not to look worried. "I'm sure it's nothing."

They headed for the clearing first and on approach Ronon pointed out that there were no camp fires in the area. Sheppard tried the radio again but only got static.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Sheppard mumbled again.

"You said that already." Ronon pointed out and raised a brow.

"Yes well, like I said, I'm…" he began but this time Ronon repeated the words with him.

"…sure it's nothing." They gave each other a passing look.

"Yeah, I doubt it." Ronon admitted. "If she's anything like you, I bet she found some trouble to get herself into."

"Hey, what are you saying?" He defended and would normally like to argue the facts but his concern for Leah and her team was a pressing matter. He hated to admit it but Ronon was right. They were probably in trouble.

"Scanners are not picking up any life signs at the designated co-ordinates. Going to do a sweep of the village."

Ronon sat quietly for a while and after the scan came up negative, he began getting a bad feeling. Sheppard landed the jumper in the clearing and decided it be best they search on foot.

"They're probably deep in the cave. Could be why scanners aren't picking them up." Sheppard tried to reason.

They headed to the village as fast as they could in the darkness without making too much use of flash lights not to give away their positions. Thus, it took them a little longer to reach the outer rim of the village.

"I have a bad felling about this." Ronon confessed out loud.

"Yeah, me too."

The proceeded cautiously into the village sticking close to the outer huts and staying well out of sight and under cover. It did not take them long to find their first dead body.

Ronon investigated the attack. "Throat cut by some crude weapon. Can only be locals."

"Perhaps a rival village?" He hypothesised.

"And with our people caught right in the middle."

Evidence led them to believe that the village was attacked over two hours ago. The only place they could still check was the cave. It took them a while to reach it, again being stealthy and careful. When they reached the cave Ronon left and did a quick perimeter sweep. Sheppard snuck up to the cave entrance which seemed a clear and entered the cave.

Inside he found clues to what appeared to be a struggle. He searched deeper but found nothing more. As he walked out of the cave, Ronon approached out of nowhere and gave Sheppard a fright.

"Sorry." He apologised with a smile. He always loved it when he got the drop on people. Made him feel like he still had it in him.

"There was a struggle inside."

"And someone was dragged in that direction, possibly one of the men." Ronon confirmed and pointed west from their location. "There is a river just up ahead."

Sheppard gave a sigh, he knew the training exercise was a bad idea in the first place. Now people's lives were at stake. "Let's see if we can pick up a trail on the other side."

They wasted no time swiftly finding a way across the river which at some parts was no more than a foot deep. They began searching for any signs of their people or who took them. It was clearly evident now that they were abducted presumably by aggressive villagers. They both just hoped that no harm had some to their comrades.

Sheppard shone his flash light for a second to the ground and found some fairly recent foot prints. He looked up to alert Ronon who was no more than five meters away and as he looked, Ronon's face became expressionless as he spun around and fell to the floor.

In that moment Sheppard saw the dart in Ronon's neck and instinctively killed his light, ran and drove for cover. He was not sure where they were or how many they were but he had to think fast.

He hit the ground hard behind a large rock and scrambled to a crouched position. He was about to check his clip when he noticed that he was not alone. Two natives were also behind the rock, blow darts in hand. They seemed just as surprised to find Sheppard suddenly there with them. Had he not acted as quickly as he did, he would be unconscious on the floor just like his friend.

Using the surprise to his advantage and being too close in proximity to fire his rifle, Sheppard swung a punch at the one dark skinned man. This would explain how they were able to hide so well.

The man fell back and dropped his dart but this left Sheppard wide open from the back. The other dark skinned man grabbed Sheppard from behind and held a dart to his face. Sheppard grabbed the man's wrist and fought to keep the dart at bay. They struggled for a moment as the other man got to his feet and called for help. He lunged at the grappled Sheppard but was met with a cunning foot to the face.

Using the distraction he twisted out of the grapple and threw his attacker over his shoulder onto the floor then without hesitation, made a run for it.

He barely got a few feet away when he felt a numb sensation on the back of his neck. Feeling the effects of gravity set in rapidly, he fell face first to the ground.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** _Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee, Dr. Julia West and Lt. Smithy McTaggard._


	11. Chapter 11

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter ****11 – Coming Home**

"Leah!"

"John!"

They reached out and their hands met.

"I am so sorry." John confessed.

"For what?" She asked. Surely he did not blame himself for this as well.

John squeezed her hand. "Well, for everything."

Their cages sat beside each other and Sheppard's head was throbbing with pain from the tranquilizer dart. He did not let go of her hand as he looked around the open area for the others.

"They had to put Ronon down again." Leah explained softly and eyed the two guards nearby who were hovering around a fire for warmth paying them no attention.

"Figures."

He spotted Dr. West and Lee cuddled together in a larger cage a few feet away and Ronon in his cage alone, in the opposite corner—unconscious. In the cage with Leah was Lt. Smithy McTaggard who also lay unconscious.

"What happened to him?" Sheppard asked.

"He got on my nerves." She explained with a wicked smile. "So…"

"So." He repeated and it suddenly dawned on them that they were still holding hands. Awkwardly they let go and settled in as near to each other as they could get still being separated by the wooden bars on their primitive cages.

"Did they hurt you?" He enquired with a whisper as it was never wise to draw attention to yourself when you were at a disadvantage.

"No, we're all fine. They took our equipment and everything, stashed them in that tent." She pointed. "The wood on these cages is not very strong. I was going to attempt an escape before dawn when there's a little more light out."

"Well if we can get to our equipment I can get us back to the jumper in the dark."

They sat in silence for a moment contemplating an escape plan.

"Won't Atlantis come looking for you if you do not return soon?" Leah enquired knowing how protocol usually works.

"Technically yes. However," he paused.

Leah gave him a concerned look. "However what?"

"We were going to stop off by Teyla before we headed back. You know, check in on her and bring them some medical supplies, Jennifer insisted." He frowned making a mental note to inform Dr. Keller of her bad idea. "That, and I really don't like waiting." He admitted.

Leah shook her head, of course something like this would happen. It's never easy. "I don't like waiting either, shall we?"

"Let's." Sheppard agreed and was of the same opinion. "Do you know what they want with us?"

"No. Far as I can tell, it was a rival village and we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's most likely why they have not killed us yet. Probably not sure what to do with us, trying to figure out if we are of some value to them."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what Ronon and I thought."

"So what's your plan?" She asked hoping he had a better plan than hers.

He looked around and tested some of his bars. One of the bars was already damaged and could easily come loose with little effort. Leah caught on fast and began testing her bars as well.

"There's only two of them." Sheppard noted.

"Yes, but there are several more just around the corner in that hut. However, I am sure we can catch them by surprise and reach our weapons in the tent before any of the others realise what has happened."

Sheppard nodded and began removing the bar, Leah kept an eye out but it seemed like the two guards were more interested in their warm fire than anything else. They turned to look back once but Sheppard and Turner quickly pretended to be asleep.

The one guard lay down and relaxed while the other guard began cooking a pheasant of some kind over the fire. This was Sheppard's chance to make his move. He slid the broken piece away and forced the other half out trying his best not to make a sound.

The gap was barely wide enough for him to squeeze through but with determination he eventually managed. Meanwhile Leah continued to work on her already weakened bar. It was apparent that the cages where not meant to house people, mere animals—and they smelt like it too.

They did not have much time and had to move quickly or risk being discovered. Once Leah was free from her cage they removed their jackets and with a little ingenuity and a few small rocks, they managed to make it look like they were sleeping in the cage.

Just in time. The guard cooking his diner looked around briefly to check on the prisoners. Luckily Leah and John were able to find limited cover behind a tree at a tight squeeze. Leah peeked around the tree and noticed that the guards' diner was burning so he was quickly attended the fire and his soon to be burnt meal.

"Mind getting off my foot?" John whispered.

"Oh, sorry." She apologised and then they wasted no time executing their silent plan.

Both trained in the art of hand to hand combat and silent manoeuvres, it was easy to communicate using just hand signals and they were adept in being sneaky. It was not long before they circled around and hid close to the two guards at the camp fire.

Upon circling they managed to assess that the other tribesmen were all inside a hut and that judging but the size of the hut, there could not be too many. They had to take the two guards down quietly before anyone noticed.

Just as they were about to strike, another two men approached the fire. John and Leah had to disappear again. The two new men were there to relieve the previous guards as their shift was over.

Leah and John waited patiently and nervously for the exchange to take place. This would not change their plan, only delay it somewhat. It seemed to take longer than expected. The guards spoke for a awhile and bickered over the half burnt meal before going their separate ways.

John watched the two original guards walk off and once they were safely far enough away and in the hut, he indicated to Leah the all clear. She acknowledged and almost stepped out of her hiding spot when one of the new guards stood up.

He was not satisfied and decided to go check on the prisoners. His first stop was Ronon's cage. John signalled again indicating to strike now!

Leah did not hesitate and briskly shuffled over to the camp fire. At the same time John moved with stealth up behind the walking guard. Almost simultaneously, the both acted catching the two men off guard.

John grabbed the man from behind in a choke hold but the man was faster than he appeared and managed to slip loose and swing a punch at him causing Sheppard to stumble back.

Leah also grabbed her man in a choke hold but was more successful and subduing him from his seated position. The man was unable to scream for help however it would take several seconds for him to fall unconscious. Leah held firm and remained focused.

The other man reached for a horn that was tied to his belt in an attempt to alert the others.

"Oh no you don't!" John declared and tackled the man to the ground causing him to let go of the horn. They wrestled for a short time before John was able to get in a lucky punch rendering the man out cold.

By then Leah's victim was also out of it and she removed the man's horn and tossed it into the fire then commandeered his blade. She hurried to John's side and after they both gave each other a reassuring glance, they wasted no time to free the others and retrieve their jackets.

Moments later they managed to liberate the team but struggled to wake Ronon. When McTaggard awoke he immediately made a complaint to Sheppard, the highest ranked officer there, against Leah for striking another officer, namely being him.

"May I remind you McTaggard, that first lieutenant Turner here IS your commanding officer. If you have a problem, take it up with her. And if you don't mind," Sheppard continued beginning to get a little annoyed and understood why Leah would want to punch the guy, "this is not the best time for this."

John then proceeded to ignore Smithy and attempted to wake Ronon. Leah just shrugged and knew she would have to answer for this later, but now is what mattered.

"Huh!?" Ronon gasped as he finally regained consciousness. He held his head for a second obviously in pain however he quickly focused and leaped to his feet ready for anything.

Sheppard had to calm him down. "Easy there."

The group gathered around and Sheppard explained the plan. There was no time to argue or question, simply to get it done. They moved quickly and reached the tent that contained their weapons. It was guarded by one man in the front which Ronon had no trouble taking care of. Swiftly they gathered their gear and weapons and managed to escape without alerting the others.

John was able to lead them back towards the cloaked jumper. Halfway there, they heard a horn in the distance. The natives must have discovered that they were missing and have sounded an alarm. This only urged them to move faster.

Once safely on board Sheppard wasted no time getting them in the air and headed straight for the gate.

"Well that was interesting. Let's not do that again." Sheppard said.

Julia clung to Adam's hand and refused to let go until they reached Atlantis. Adam wanted to speak with Leah but noticed that she and John were smiling at each other and so left it alone.

Smithy was unimpressed with everything especially how close Sheppard and Turner appeared to be. Not to mention Leah's relationship with Carter. It would be his word against hers and that did not seem promising so why bother. Ronon minded his own business but also noticed how chuffed Leah and John now were.

"Dial the gate." John ordered and Leah, being in the co-pilot seat, gladly obliged after confirming that she dial Atlantis and that the trip to Teyla was now delayed.

Back at Atlantis the Stargate activated and they confirmed Sheppard's IDC.

"John you're early what happened?" Carter asked through the gate communication.

"We ran into a bit of trouble but everyone is safe and accounted for. Permission to come home ahead of schedule, I'll explain everything when we get back."

"Permission granted."

A few seconds later the jumper arrived through the gate and made its way to the jumper bay. Carter made her way there as well to greet them and find out what had happened.

The jumper door opened and Samantha stood there glad to see that everyone was alright.

"John."

"Col. Carter." He greeted. "The rest of you to the infirmary and get yourselves checked out."

"That includes you John, you can catch me up to speed on the way." Carter ordered concerned for all of them especially since she was still in the dark about it all.

Later that day after everyone was cleared by Dr. Keller and Carter was satisfied with their reports, Leah found Carter in her office.

"It's late Sam, don't tell me you are still working?" She enquired.

"Hey, no I'm done more or less. What's up?"

Leah closed the door behind her and wondered forward. "There's something I want to tell you."

"Alright, go ahead."

"I punched Lt. McTaggart." She smiled with guilt like a little girl who did something wrong. "And I will take any action you deem fit against me for striking another officer."

"I appreciate you coming forward but he has not lodged a formal complaint."

"Well I thought you should know."

Carter walked around her desk and stood next to Leah. "Thank you. I will talk to him in the morning. You did the right thing coming to me."

They said their good nights but Leah did not feel tired enough to sleep so she headed to her favourite balcony and let her mind wonder as she looked out at the alien stars.

"Thought I might find you here." A voice said from behind.

She did not need to turn around to know it was John Sheppard. He stood beside her and also looked up at the stars. "You did good back there."

Leah did not make eye contact and continued to stare out at the unknown. "Well we make a good team."

"We could use someone like you around here. I will gladly give you a recommendation."

Leah smiled and looked to Sheppard who her met her gaze and smiled back. He could not help but notice her stray stand of hair blowing in the wind or her clear green eyes in the moonlight. John had to break the gaze before he thought or did something stupid.

"Well good night." He bid and made a hastily exit.

"Good night." She said as he walked off then mumbled to herself when he was too far off to hear. "Sweet dreams, John Sheppard."

* * *

**Disclaimer:** _Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee, Dr. Julia West and Lt. Smithy McTaggard._


	12. Chapter 12

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter ****12 – Time to Say Goodbye Part 1**

The next morning was a welcomed sight. The sky was clear and bright and everyone was glad to be back and safe on the Atlantis base. Leah, Adam and Julia met up for breakfast as usual and spoke about all the things that had happened during their stay.

"Can you believe we are leaving in three days?" Julia asked then looked to Adam with a smile.

Adam took her hand and returned the smile. "I hope we get good reviews. I have my first interview later this morning."

Leah raised a brow at the two holding hands. A sign of relief overcame her and she was thankful that the two of them finally hooked up. It has taken them over a year to get to that point. Now all she needed was her own hero, someone she could smile at and share her life with—someone who understood her.

"I am so nervous for my interview." Julia giggled with excitement.

"You will both be fine. I am sure you will get excellent reviews." Leah added. "I would be proud to work with you in the field any day."

Julia reached out and took Leah's other hand. "Promise me." She said looking at both Adam and Leah. "No matter what happens or where we land up, that we will stay in touch."

Leah nodded and Adam smiled, he wasn't planning on letting Julia out of his sight any time soon and didn't want to think about the possibility of them being separated on different assignments. For now he had to focus on being happy.

After breakfast they left to attend their assignments. Julia headed to the lab and continued to work on her study. Julia was tasked with writing a report on her findings as a final assignment for Dr. Brown. This would reflect on her review in the program.

Adam had a short time to spare before he needed to be at his interview so he decided to go over what he might say. Leah had no assignment so she went to go find Sheppard.

"Colonel." She greeted after finding him wondering around the halls.

"Lieutenant." He responded and continued to walk.

"Sir, anything you need me to do?" She asked. After all, she was assigned to him and it was his responsibility to see to it that she had something to do.

"I am heading to the conference room for Adam's interview. I believe your's is this afternoon. See you later then."

Leah stopped and let him walk off then tilted on her heels. Her interview was last and only scheduled for much later. She had to find something to do while she waited.

First she went to the prep room and checked, then rechecked her gear. After cleaning her rifle she decided to go work out. She reached the gym room and found Smithy there using the treadmill. She was about to turn and leave when he stopped and called to her.

"Turner, may I have a word?" He asked.

Her face cringed and she took a deep breath then turned around again and smiled. "Sure, what's up?"

Smithy wiped the sweat off his face and took a huge gulp of water. "I just want to apologise for the other day and let you know all is forgiven and you don't have to worry, I did not lodge a complaint."

Leah looked confused but relieved. She already had a few black marks to her record and being out of commission most of her stay here did not help. So all in all, she was glad this matter could be forgotten.

"Well I am sorry for hitting you."

Smithy laughed. "Yes well, we all did stupid things that day. I say we just forget about it."

They shook hands and finalised the matter. Smithy knew he was out of line and Leah knew she too was out of line during the training exersice so they were both in the wrong, no point in making it an issue.

Leah spent at least an hour or more in the gym, mostly practicing her martial arts, before getting bored. After a relaxing shower, she went to go find Adam to see how his interview went. He was in the lab working on a program when she finally found him.

"Adam, how did it go?"

He hardly looked up too engrossed in his work. "Oh, um, fine I guess."

She stood there for a minute and realised he was in his zone so she bid him farewell and wondered off again. Julia would be in her interview by now. Leah laughed at the though of Julia sitting in the room with all the senior officers—a nervous wreck.

Leah then headed to the mess hall and decided to grab some lunch. She wasn't that hungry but figured it was something to do to pass the time. She decided to sit outside on the balcony and eat her lunch but it was rather empty. Looking at the time she realised it was past lunch time so the mad rush must be over. The time was still however passing too slowly.

After giving herself a loud deliberate sigh, she sat down in the far corner away from everyone and looked out at the ocean.

A few moments later, Sheppard arrived and came to sit at her table. He had no food with him, just a beer.

"A little early for that, don't you think?" Leah asked but Shepard just shrugged.

She decided to try eat her food not to let it go to waste and leaned forward reaching for her fork. A hand met hers and held it firm. She looked up and found Sheppard staring at her smiling, holding her hand.

She could feel herself blushing. This was not some friendly touch or look, there was something behind it that have her stomach butterflies. Nervously she tried to pull her hand away but he held firm and had her pinned.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you Leah." Sheppard confessed and looked around for onlookers then leaned in closer.

"Um, yes?"

"Since the first time I saw you, I knew you were special. Heck, when Carter took you away I was jealous."

Leah blushed some more. This was by for the least expected thing she could have imagined. Sheppard continued not wanting to loose his nerve.

"Soon you will no longer be under my command and I was hoping perhaps on my next shore leave, we could maybe, get together?"

He smiled again and Leah felt like melting. She knew exactly what he meant and this made her blush even more. She could not believe what she was hearing. Her feelings for Sheppard were buried deep and this brought them all to the surface. Now, he was suggesting they get together which meant that he must feel the same way.

If that was the case, why was he avoiding her so much, and yes, he was. It became apparent since they were assigned together. He would only spend time with her if they had to. She truly thought she repelled him. This confirmed she was wrong.

"I would like that very much." She finally managed to say.

He smiled and lifted her hand giving it a tight squeeze then got up and left the table.

Suddenly Leah jerked and almost fell off her chair. Two personnel sitting a little way away from her looked up to make sure she was alright. She waved in embarrassment and her face then sunk into a deep sadness.

"Just a dream." She mumbled.

As she looked up, Sheppard stepped onto the mess hall balcony. He spotted Leah and walked over to her. She pinched herself to make sure she was awake and had to control her erratic emotions. She took a deep breath and reminded herself it was only a dream.

"Turner, glad I found you." He greeted standing next to the table. "You okay? You look, flustered."

"Yeah." She lied. "Just ate something that did not agree with me."

He paused for a second as if he knew she was lying but let it slide. "Wanted to tell you your interview has been postponed till tomorrow. Something came up."

Leah looked disappointed. She was already so bored and now she had to wait even longer. "Oh."

Sheppard could tell there was something wrong and against his better judgement, he grabbed a chair and sat down at the table. This made Leah nervous but she was good at not showing it.

"No need to stay on my account, I am sure you have lots to do." She pointed out and looked at her now cold food. To top it off, there was a bug floating in her glass of water. She just rolled her eyes and sat back into her uncomfortable chair.

Sheppard smiled. He found her irritated state amusing. "Actually I have nothing on. Perhaps you'd like to join me for a round of golf?"

She eyed him suspiciously and frowned. "I don't recall seeing a golf course out here."

"We make do. Besides, I can't ask Ronon, he tends to break the clubs and everyone else is busy. Come on, it will be fun." He shrugged and read her expression. "Unless you have somewhere else you need to be?"

Leah grabbed her wasted lunch and smiled. "Nope, I'm all yours."

As she stood up she thwarted herself in her mind for saying such a stupid thing, how awkward. "Shall we?"

"Not going to finish your lunch?" He asked looking at her untouched food.

"Not really hungry."

They left the mess hall and had to make a stop at Sheppard's room to collect his golf clubs. Leah waited at the door unsure if she should go in or not.

"I don't bite." Sheppard joked obviously noticing her reluctance.

She hesitated and walked in but not very far. This was the first time she had been in his room and she took a moment to look around.

"Oh, do you play much?" She asked pointing out his guitar.

"Used to, not so much anymore. You play?"

"Kinda, did the whole band thing a while back."

Sheppard's face lit up and he could not help but smile. This reminded him of something he read in her personnel file.

"What?" She asked concerned. "We've all done the rock star gig some time in our lives."

"No, was just thinking about something I read. Ready?" He asked with his golf bag slung over his shoulder and a six-pack of beer in the other hand.

As they walked to the open balcony Sheppard could not get the grin off his face. This was beginning to bother Leah.

"Seriously, what did you read? It must have been good if you're still thinking about it." She pushed determined to be in on the joke and trying to avoid as much awkward silence as possible.

"It's nothing really."

"Apparently not."

There was a long silence as they reached John's favourite t-off spot. He began setting up the pin and choosing a club for Leah then handed it to her. After choosing his own club he took a golf ball and placed it on the tee. He was about to swing when he stopped and smile keeping his gaze to the ground.

"Did you really land up in jail for dancing on tables?"

Leah was shocked and speechless. How could he know that? Was it in her file? Was that what he's been laughing about?

'Be cool.' She thought to herself. This conversation can go south very fast.

"It sounds silly I know, but there was more to it than that." She began and waved her metal golf club cunningly nearby in a threatening manner. "That's supposed to be classified, off the record."

"Well some things get unclassified if they are deemed necessary."

"How is that information necessary here?"

"We got given full disclosure to personality traits and such. Part of the program. When you go out into the field you need to know who you can trust."

Leah laughed and shook her head sarcastically. "Well I hope that bit of information cleared things up for you."

"No, not quite. It was very vague. Perhaps you can explain to me what exactly happened." As he asked that, he gave a generous swing of his club and smacked the golf ball out into the ocean.

"I still don't see how it is relevant."

"Indulge me." He asked and this time he looked up at her.

"Are you ordering me to tell you?"

"Fine, I order you to tell me."

They both stood there with serious faces and both equally stubborn to get their way. Finally Leah gave in and walked up to the pin. She placed her gold ball down and prepared to swing. Sheppard stood back and watched as she gave a perfect swing hitting the ball a few yards further than Sheppard.

His mouth hung open. "I thought you said you didn't know how to play! What was that!?"

Leah shrugged and kept herself calm and neutral. "Actually, I didn't say anything, you just assumed."

"Anything else I should know?" He asked as he reached for two beers.

"Probably." She replied and took the beer he offered her. "Probably not." She smiled.

They retired the golf clubs for the moment and sat on the rim of the balcony. It was already afternoon and the sun was off to the side preparing to set.

"So, those tables." John began still waiting for his explanation.

"Fine." She smiled and shrugged. "It was years back when I had just joined the air force. I was out with some friends celebrating our finals. We over did it slightly with the shots and next thing you know I'm dancing on a table."

Sheppard took a sip of his beer and knew she was hiding something form him. "So they locked you up for disorderly conduct?"

"Hmph." She mumbled taking a sip herself trying to avoid the question.

"What aren't you telling me?" He pressed not so much out of curiosity but because he could tell she needed to get it off her chest.

"Just between you and me right?" She caved feeling the need to tell someone, why not him.

He nodded.

"I admit we got a little wasted, my friends more so than me. We were in a bar just off base so we figured we could let loose a bit, you know. There was this older guy hitting on my one friend, she wasn't interested but he would not let it slide. She was a civilian, old childhood buddy, moved to England years back and flew all the way over to see me. So naturally, it was my job to look out for her."

"Go on." He encouraged as she took another sip of her beer.

"The table dance was on a dare. Had to win a bet you see. But while I was up there things got precarious for my friend in the back of the bar. The guy got a little forceful and rough with her, completely wasted. He somehow managed to corner her away from the crowd, luckily I was—elevated—to see over them. I guess I didn't think, just acted. Rushed over, pulled the guy off her. He had already ripped her blouse. He was not happy, grabbed me and I just wacked him one, straight to the nose. Then we got out of there fast."

She looked down at her drink recalling the event. "Later, when they came to arrest me, I learned I hit a senior officer. He pressed charges, it got on my permanent record. He could not implement himself so he simply put it down to the table dance. And he had friends, witnesses, I did not stand a chance to defend myself. Anyway, when I joined the program, Samantha found out and convinced them to black list it so that it would not be a permanent eye sore on my record. They opted to keep it there but classify it."

Sheppard shook his head, it didn't surprise him how some people abused their power like that. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's over with and I'm the wiser for it."

"Oh, how so?"

"Next time, before I punch a guy, I will ask his name and rank." She laughed and John could not help but laugh with her.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** _Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee, Dr. Julia West and Lt. Smithy McTaggard._


	13. Chapter 13

**Stargate Atlantis**

by Forestmoon

"**Noura****"**

* * *

**Chapter ****13 – Time to Say Goodbye Part 2**

It was after sunset and a six-pack of beers later when Sheppard gave his last swing hitting the ball out into the darkness.

"Not bad. Best out of thirty?" Leah asked.

"Would love to but we are out of balls." Sheppard replied then realised how that sounded and they both laughed.

"I guess it's late, better call it a night." She admitted looking up the evening sky.

They packed away their golf clubs and headed inside. Sheppard's room was on the way to Leah's so they walked together talking about random golf mishap stories. Sheppard had many more to tell than Leah.

They reached his room and said their farewells and good nights.

"Oh, hang on Leah." Sheppard called as she was about to leave.

He disappeared into his room and shuffled around looking for something. After a minute or two of waiting, he came out again and handed her a small object.

"Was going to wait to give this to you but figured now's a good a time as any."

She looked at the small stone pendant and smiled. That was thoughtful of him and very much out of character. "What does it mean?" She asked referring to the symbol carved into it.

"Oh, it means Moon in Atlantean. Or that's what they tell me. Found it on one of our last trade missions. Was going to give it to Teyla but I think you'll enjoy it more and it's something to remind you of this place, so you don't forget us all."

Leah smiled again. This was definitely an experience she would not forget, regardless.

"Thank you."

They said their farewells again and called it a night for good.

The next morning, Leah awoke with a fussy head. She leaned over and looked at the pendant sitting on her night stand.

"That was not a dream." She told herself then got up and prepared for her interview.

Again at breakfast the three of them met up and spoke about all the things they learned. Adam and Julia wanted to tell Leah about their interviews but were nicely asked not to say anything until all the interviews were done.

Leah seemed distracted in any case, she had recent events still on her mind and could not help but wonder that if things were somehow different…

Just then, Sheppard and Ronon walked into the mess hall. Leah glanced up then quickly looked back at her breakfast. Julia noticed the sparkle in her eye and as all friends do, had to say something.

"So, what's up with you and Sheppard? He's so hot." She giggled and Adam rolled his eyes at her. "But you're super hot!" She corrected looking at Adam batting her eyelids.

Leah ignored the question and was hoping Julia would change the topic. However, Julia was too much into gossip to let this pass.

"It so romantic." Julia continued hoping to push Leah's buttons far enough to get something juicy out of her.

"It's not like that Julia."

"Then what is it like?"

"It's, complicated and whatever you think is going on, is most certainly not."

Adam stood up and stretch. "Shall I leave the table?" This was turning out to be a conversation he was not interested in being a part of.

Leah then stood up and grabbed her tray. "No Adam, I'm leaving anyway. Got to get ready for my interview."

She gave Julia a purposeful look before walking off and Julia just giggled again. "It's so cute how defensive she gets. I tell you, there's something going on there. I just know it."

"Julia." Adam moaned. "It's really none of our business. How is your report coming along?" He asked.

She smile and informed him that she was all done and planned to review it this morning before handing it in.

Leah's interview lasted over an hour and seemed to go off without any issues. Before she left, Samantha invited her to lunch and Leah was glad to be able to spend some time with Carter before she left Atlantis.

In the beginning they managed to catch up and talk about old times but later things got busy for Carter and they hardly saw each other. It was nice that she was making time now towards the end.

Lunch was good and both woman enjoyed sharing stories and having a laugh. Sadly Carter was called away not before long and Leah was once again left alone in the mess hall. Before Carter got called away, Leah managed to convince her to allow her to take a jumper out for one last flight.

Samantha agreed as long as Leah took John with and as long as they did not stray too far away from the city and kept the trip short. Leah wasted no time finding John.

"Sir!" She called out before he rounded a corner.

"Turner. Good interview but the way." He greeted. "And call me John. Sir sounds so, formal."

"John, I was hoping you would be free this afternoon?" She asked with incentive.

"I'm out of golf balls if that's what you are getting at. Have to wait for a resupply."

Leah laughed. "No, no. Samantha said I can have one last go around in a jumper but insisted I take you along."

Sheppard eyed her suspiciously. "Well I have a few things to finish up then I can meet you later."

"Thank you! Just shout when you are ready." Leah smiled and waved as she ran off to log the flight plan for later on and make sure they had clearance.

Time ticked by slowly as Leah waited in the jumper bay. She went over the flight controls did a pre-flight—twice—and eventually dosed off in the pilot seat. There was pretty much nothing left for her to do or see in the base. During her time in recovery she managed to meet every person on the base and visit every room so there was nothing left to explore. Sitting around waiting was not her strong suite.

A gentle tap on the shoulder woke her up. It was Sheppard with an amused Ronon standing next to him.

"Perhaps we should let her sleep." Ronon joked.

Leah sat up and straightened her vest. "About time you got here."

"Sorry about that." Sheppard apologised. "Things took a little longer than expected. We still good to go?"

Turner nodded and looked at the time. It was almost evening again but still light outside. This just meant they would be arriving back in the dark.

"Ronon's tagging along if that's alright." He noted more as a statement than a question and sat himself comfortably in the co-pilot seat. "When you ready."

Leah was more than ready to depart, had been for over three hours. There was just one problem.

"I'm ready, it's just." She hesitated but knew if she did not go now she would regret it. "I'll be right back."

She hurried off the jumper and headed for the nearest locker room. The large juice she had earlier was determined to make her life miserable. John and Ronon looked at each other and could guess where Turner ran off to.

Moments later a rushed Leah returned and sat down relieved. "Sorry about that. Good to go. Starting him up."

"Her." John corrected.

"This ship is definitely a he." She stubbornly pointed out.

"No, this one is a she."

Ronon flopped into the seat behind John and rolled his eyes. "Oh boy, his is going to be a long flight."

Leah started the engines and opened the hanger bay doors. She made a swift and clean exit and flew away from the city at a steady pace. John stood up and walked to the very back of the jumper then casually lay on the long seat and closed his eyes.

"What now?" Ronon asked unable to figure out what Sheppard was up to.

"Oh nothing much, thought I would get some shut eye. Besides, you know how I hate to not be at the controls."

Leah ignored the statement and said nothing in response. Ronon shrugged and moved to sit next to Leah.

"You know there's an island around here somewhere, we can drop him off and really have some fun. Take her out there." Ronon pointed up past the atmosphere towards the heavens.

"I can hear you." Sheppard announced. "And no, we are under strict instructions to keep it within range."

Leah frowned, guess he did not trust her as much as she thought. He must have spoken to Carter. It did not matter, that was just a tiny fact that bothered her slightly but not enough to spoil the moment. Regardless, she was out there flying above the waters doing something few people could ever dream of doing.

She was in her element.

The flight was shorter than she hoped but worth every minute. Ronon actually spoke with her and they managed to find something to talk about while Sheppard pretended to be asleep.

As expected, it was dark by the time they arrived back. "Thank you so much." Leah said with a smile but they could tell she was sad inside.

Ronon gave her a pat on the back then headed off.

"So tomorrow's your last day hah?" Sheppard asked.

"Yes, we ship out at noon tomorrow."

"Well I'm sure you'll be back with us in no time." He encouraged but Leah knew better.

"Doubt it. The only reason I am here is because of Carter. If they had their way, they would keep me grounded and nearby so that they can keep an eye on me."

"Oh."

"It's okay. I am glad I at least got this chance."

"Yeah."

They walked back to the control tower having little left to say. Turner was hoping to find Samantha there and John needed to check up on something.

"For what it's worth, I hope you get your own team someday. You deserve it and I think you'd be great at it."

Leah smiled and spotted Carter heading out. "Oh, there she is. See you tomorrow."

"Night." He bid as she ran off to catch Samantha.

"Sam!" She called out.

"Oh hey Leah, how was your flight?"

"Thank you again. It was wonderful."

"You're welcome, I'm glad you had fun. Join me for breakfast in the morning?" Carter asked wanting to spend more time with her friend before she left as she knew it could be months before they saw each other again.

"Of course. Good night."

"You too."

The next morning after breakfast the three recruits began packing and saying their goodbyes. Two months was a long time but now that is was all over, it felt very short.

They headed to the control tower just before noon where Dr. Brown, Dr. Keller, Dr. McKay, Ronon, Carter and Sheppard where already gathered. Julia gave everyone a hug and Adam shook their hands. Turner stood to the side and allowed her friends the time to say farewell.

Carter walked up to Leah and hugged her. "See you soon." She said knowing that soon could be anytime but at least it was sometime.

Ronon smiled and Leah held out her hand to shake his but instead he put his large arms around her and gave her a hug as well. McKay gladly shook her hand and was not one for hugging. Dr. Brown nodded in respect and Dr. Keller gave Leah some sound advice for taking care of her back. All that was left was Sheppard.

Carter called to the control room to contact the Daedalus which arrived in orbit the day before.

Leah walked up to John and gave him a smile that held a thousand thanks. She wanted desperately to put her arms around him and hold him for just a second but knew it would be inappropriate and so she extended her hand. He took it warmly and held it tight.

"See you around Turner." He smiled holding on to her hand for slightly longer than necessary.

"Ready to beam on your command." Came a voice from the controls.

"Ready?" Carter asked.

John gave Leah a quick squeeze before letting go of her hand.

"Ready." She confirmed.

Carter nodded to the control room and within seconds the three of them disappeared in a flash of light. It was back to normal for the Atlantis base.

As for the three recruits, their futures were still being decided.

**The End.**

* * *

**A/N: **_Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for reading and reviewing - I appreciate it all._

**Disclaimer:** _Fanfiction. I only own the character(s) I added and created for this story being 1st Lt. Leah Turner, Dr. Adam Lee, Dr. Julia West and Lt. Smithy McTaggard._


End file.
